Swordsman?
by Selector
Summary: Picture, if you will, a government that is just at the normal levels of incompetence, rather than the normal worm verse abject stupidity. A world where Queen Administrator really is a Queen, not a weird little Princess playing with bugs, from the start.
1. Chapter 1

Swordsman?

"My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you killed my mother, prepare to die."

Alabastor snorted and looked at Crusader. Crusader rolled his eyes and started popping clones. He stopped when the blade of the rapier appeared protruding six inches from the back of his skull. Alabastor cursed and rolled away. He hit the ground an armless, legless, torso. The wounds sealed and scared over "What the fuck?" He watched the black clad figure sprint away.

Victoria Dallon, standing frozen on the street, where she had been dragging her sister along window shopping, looked at her sister "Ames?"

Amy Dallon blinked "Yeah?"

"We going to do anything?"

Amy frowned "Well, We can check but I think Crusader is dead, and it's been longer than Alabastor's power normally takes to reset." The smaller girl looked around at the cell phones pointing at them and sighed. The taller blond nodded.

Amy grumbled under her breath as she walked out into the street where traffic was halted, first by the clones and the three capes then by the bodies and body parts. She bent down and felt Crusaders neck over the pulse point, she didn't really need to check his pulse, and for her it was useless information anyway, lost in the welter of other information, it was the standard optics though. She didn't really need a pulse to save or repair people. Or in this case the vast lack of information. It was like she was checking a statue's pulse. "Way dead, even the normal flora and fauna. What the actual fuck? Will he even decompose?"

"Wut?" Vicky asked with her nose wrinkled.

"How the fuck did that Zoro want to be even do this?" Amy continued mostly to herself.

Vicky shook her head but reached down and tapped Amy's back "If you think that's weird I think Alabastor's legs and arms are resetting?"

Amy hummed interestedly and lifted her hand wandering over to Alabastor's left arm and squatting down to touch the back of the hand. She held her finger on it for several seconds and shook herself "Deader than dead, like Crusader. It is resetting though. It just resets to dead? What the actual fuck?" She rose and took a couple of steps reaching down to touch Alabastor.

Vicky watched her sister and the crowd, lifting slightly off the ground to get a better view and be ready in case anyone was an idiot. She waited a few minutes while Alabastor sort of squirmed around on the ground "Ames?"

Amy shook herself and stood up "Not putting those back on. His body thinks this is its normal state. Or something. It's pretty strange." She bent back over and put a finger on his forehead again.

Vicky snorted "And this with a rapier. Thank fuck she didn't have an arming sword eh whitey?" She caught a movement and snapped her head around to the robed woman running up "Nazi incoming."

Amy looked up "Othala." She watched as Othala put her hand on Crusader and shuddered then recoiled. The Neo Nazi cape then scuttled to Alabastor and put her hand on his forehead as Amy withdrew her finger. She dropped onto her butt in the street. Amy blinked.

She snapped her head around as Vicky spoke "Victor."

The Neo Nazi Cape frowned and nodded "Glory Girl, Panacea."

"Pretty bold Victor. The cops and Protectorate are bound to be on their way."

Victor shrugged "Befehl ist Befehl."

Amy snorted "Let me know if the Nuremberg defense works this time." She backed toward Vicky while watching Othala gather herself and try again. "It won't work, his body thinks it is supposed to be like that."

Vicky looked around at all the cell phones "Someone live streaming?"

Othala huffed at Amy and Victor nodded "Apparently." Manpower, the girl's uncle, Brandish, their mother, and Lady Photon, their aunt, landed on the street. "And apparently we weren't the only ones watching."

Manpower stepped between the two girls and Victor, all nearly seven feet and five hundred pounds of pure muscle of him "Victor."

Victor nodded "Manpower."

Lady Photon sighed as Hookwolf, Storm Tiger and Cricket hove into view. Brandish's energy swords sprang from her hands. "We'll be taking the girls and leaving."

Velocity, a Protectorate cape, appeared "Everybody freeze."

The independent heroes looked at him. Victor snorted. He shrugged "We're going to need statements from everyone."

Lady Photon sighed. She could see the Protectorate not wanting to fight in a crowded plaza with half the Empire though. And the civilians weren't going anywhere apparently. In fact it seemed more of them were showing up. Even the drivers in the now gridlocked roads weren't complaining. She rolled her eyes as the sound of a motorcycle was heard by them all.

Vicky barked a laugh "And the afternoon just got autistic."

Amy giggled. Victor smiled and shook his head. Brandish looked at her daughter sternly. Manpower laughed. Velocity sighed.

Othala rose "I can't do anything."

Everyone looked at Amy. She sighed "His body thinks that is how it is supposed to be. Maybe I could do something, but it is going to take some time and study. Lucky I think. That cape killed Crusader and everything about him including all the flora and fauna, including whatever was in his clothes."

The gigantic motorcycle rumbled up and the man in the power armor smoothly dismounted. "Remain calm." Everyone looked at each other. Some shaking their heads, several rolling their eyes. The armored man turned to Vicky and Amy "What happened?"

Victor gaped "Uh, we have wounded?"

"An ambulance is on the way, both Panacea and Othala have already rendered aid."

Victor opened his mouth and then closed it again as armored truck after armored truck with green flashing lights appeared sealing off the Plaza and helicopters appeared circling the area.

"Shit, I didn't know there were that many troopers in Brockton Bay." Vicky said after looking around.

Armsmaster, the armored man and leader of the Local Protectorate nodded tightly, not explaining that this incident had occurred right at a shift change so the PRT had double the number of troopers and vehicles ready and available.

Swordsman?

Danny blinked at the PRT Lieutenant "Beg pardon?"

Lieutenant Eric Miller sighed "Your daughter killed a Cape in front of God and everyone, then she chopped the arms and legs off another one."

Danny blinked "I highly doubt it." The Lieutenant held up a tablet with an edited video on it. Danny watched "Hmmph must be a different Taylor Anne Hebert. Taylor is either at home or at the Library." He checked his watch. "Library." The Lieutenant got on his radio.

Swordsman?

Armsmaster turned his head and everyone thought he was surveying the scene, he was really following along as Dragon tracked Taylor Anne Hebert down in the library. "Master with a projection then."

Dragon nodded "Very high level thinker as well as she is playing a game, very well by the way, with that movie running in background so she can switch screens in case the librarians check as it is a violation of policy to play games on the library computers. She only loses or dies when one makes their rounds and she switches to the movie, three minutes after every hour, regular as clockwork."

"Tibia is so old though." Armsmaster scoffed.

Dragon sighed "Free Colin, and ported to Bet from Aleph."

"Unless she gave a double her token and code, not impossible, good security system, poor procedures, then it is her as well. The Squad assigned will pick her up for her own safety." Armsmaster declared and started relaying instructions.

Swordsman?

Taylor looked at the PRT troopers as they came in the library and blinked as they came straight to her. She looked at the leader of the squad "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"

Michelle Rodriguez, no relation, super lightweight MMA fighter and PRT Sergeant in three years of service, barked a laugh "And you are way tall for a princess. Taylor Anne Hebert?"

Taylor blinked, not really realizing she had used a Star Wars line, and at Michelle getting the pronunciation of her name right first thing "Uh, yes?"

Michelle nodded as the PRT Troopers surrounded Taylor, most of them facing out from her and Michelle "OK we are taking you into protective custody. Another Squad is getting your father, and one more is watching your house."

"What?"

Michelle shrugged and one of the other troopers snorted "It's a rescue princess let's go." She stepped up beside Taylor and started walking, the circle of troopers moved with her. Taylor, perforce, moved as well.

Taylor's brain was catching up "Uh, are we going to keep doing the Star Wars thing? I can't really remember any more of it. Plus, my stuff?"

"Crime scene, you will get it back after the crime scene techs get a look at it all as long as it wasn't used in the commission of a crime."

"What?"

Michelle sighed "I can't talk about it. You aren't under arrest yet but someone using your name killed Crusader."

"What? Why? Goddamnit! It's those bitches! Now they are trying to frame me for murder. Trying to murder me themselves didn't work so they are trying this now!"

Michelle blinked and made sure her recorder was running "OK, maybe you should start from the beginning." Taylor laughed bitterly.

Swordsman?

Dragon, listening in horror, to the statement Sergeant Rodriguez was getting, fired the alert off to Armsmaster and used the issued phone to track Shadow Stalker. She found her in the outer perimeter and got visual of her through several traffic and body cameras just as the tall, thin, female in all black clothes strode up. "My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you tried to kill me, prepare to almost die."

Shadow Stalker laughed. She stopped laughing when the rapier went through her left calf. She went to smoke after a shot from her bow and screamed as the rapier went through her right calf, doing damage even in her breaker form.

Miss Militia, the closest Protectorate cape never hesitated with a ward under attack and took a center of mass shot with the M21 she had manifested. The cape dodged the bullet somehow and she manifested an M4 and moved to close the distance. The PRT Troopers nearest deployed foam or got their weapons on target. The other capes in the area, Empire included ran to the gunfire as it were.

Nothing helped Shadow Stalker as she was being stabbed over and over. She finally broke and tried to run. The cape hamstrung her and kept on cutting or rather stabbing her. It was pretty horrific and the scene of the fight was a chaotic maelstrom of activity on a public street. So much so that the normal Brockton Bay crowd broke and ran. Adding to the chaos. The idiots that would stand and get cell phone video of Lung ramped up and burning everything like a miniature Godzilla ran too.

Nothing stopped the cape. Bullets were dodged, some in the same way Shadow Stalker dodged, foam that wasn't dodged was cut off with the rapier. Which should have been impossible. Protectorate capes attacks were deflected or dodged with no injury that could be attributed to the cape.

News crews with long lenses were streaming video to their organizations and reporters were breathlessly commenting on what they were seeing. News broadcast were going to breaking news updates.

The entire country, and a large portion of the world, watched as Shadow Stalker was sliced and diced, and ended up on the ground, first crying in rage, then in terror, and finally passing out. The cape responsible ran at that point. Ran so fast Velocity couldn't keep up. Neither could Glory Girl who circled back quickly as her sister had charged in and poked Shadow Stalker with a finger on the only patch of bare, clean skin she could find. She began rattling off a list of injuries as she fixed them, Four PRT medics standing by.

Amy arched a brow "Sepsis. Really? Bitch take a fucking shower once in a while. Jesus Christ. Syphilis Gonorrhea, HPV, holy shit, what are you, working in a whore house when you aren't on patrol? Where have I seen this before? Even the pattern of injuries?"

One of the medics had pulled up Shadow Stalkers records on a tablet "She didn't have any of these a week ago when she did her physical."

Amy snorted "Been busy then. She has them now, TB as well. You probably want to get a blood, or in this case sewage, sample before I fix all that. The holes are closed up. Need a large bore IV too, she doesn't actually have that much volume. Not enough fat to make it up after closing the holes either.

"Double glove. This whole area is going to need decontaminated. I swear I have seen blood like this recently."

"Mover seven, striker eight, thinker seven combat." Everyone turned to look at Armsmaster after he spoke.

Amy shrugged "Breaker yes. She made Alabastor like that." She waved toward the cape down the street "And killed Crusader more than dead. If the medics are right then she gave all these diseases, fully developed by the way, high loads of all of them, to Shadow Stalker somehow."

"Bio tinker, or tinker perhaps. That weapon must have a monomolecular edge to part the adhesive bond of containment foam. Bag all of that as evidence, perhaps it has DNA on it." The troopers around him nodded.

Amy stood up and the medics took over Shadow Stalker. "Call me when you are ready for me to fix the diseases. OK the rest of you line up and let's fix you all up. Aegis what the fuck? How did you get containment foam inside you?"

Swordsman?

Michelle read the text on her HUD and shook her head. How was she supposed to ask Taylor if she knew who Shadow Stalker was without tipping her off that Sophia Hess was Shadow Stalker? It was fucking obvious. She had figured it out from Taylor's statement. And wasn't that going to be a pain in the ass. Like dry butt fucking level of pain.

Taylor was nowhere near stupid. She would put it together the first time someone asked a question about it. The van stopped and Michelle looked out the view slit "OK we are here. Let's get this notebook and the computer files so we can turn it over to the cops Taylor." The troop ramp dropped and Taylor nodded and walked bent over to the opening then stood up straight. Michelle sighed "So unfair. You are going to make a fortune as a model."

Taylor snorted "Stop trying to suck up. I look like a frog."

"You're fifteen Taylor. A little exercise and agencies will fight over you. Legs all the way to your neck, small busted, tight butt, nice face, great hair, lose the glasses and use contacts and you will start riots. Give it a little time and the girls come in a little more, if they don't, augmentation is a thing, and after you lose that little belly agencies will fight over you. I can show you how to lose the belly. And give you a good diet. Probably need to anyway because you are going to have to defend yourself sweety. From guys and girls.

"We got a nice gym on base several in fact. I can show you while this bullshit gets sorted out. Then you will have a routine. You can cook right? The diet is pretty cheap really. No take out, fast food, or soda though. That shit is from the devil."

Taylor looked at the other troopers, all part of Michelle's fan club, minions and followers? Whatever, who were nodding and blushed. Michelle continued "OK, evidence, and pack for three days, four to be safe, sometimes the laundry is slow."

"Where are we going? Never mind, classified right?"

"Smart too, so unfair."

Taylor rolled her eyes "So we packing for my Dad too?"

Michelle shook her head "No, he had a go bag at his office. You are supposed to lock the house apparently. Something I should know about your Dad Taylor?"

"He was apparently a boy scout? No idea really."

'Don't forget girly stuff just in case this goes longer. The BX and supply have limited selections." Taylor sighed and pinked a bit. Only one trooper in the squad besides Michelle was female. The males hadn't said anything though and a couple of them nodded, well trained maybe?

Swordsman?

Emily Piggot sat in the center chair of the top row facing the big screen, with her headphones on, and watched and listened as the operations and intelligence sections worked through the most recent crisis, at the same time as they constructed an information briefing, decision matrix, and decision briefings for every decision on the matrix. There were a lot of blanks, still to many, though not near as many as two hours ago.

All of that in addition to current operations. Which were surprisingly disturbed very little by whatever that bullshit this afternoon had been.

A fucking ward triggering a civilian, by attempting to murder her. Well Shadow Stalker would have some time to think about it. Two years in juvenile detention, and then whatever she got for attempted murder in an adult facility. If the national leadership didn't step in and do something they shouldn't. Shadow Stalker was a powerful cape in a limited way. In Emily's personal opinion however, she would never be powerful enough to outweigh how broken her mental state was. Unreliable was the best of what she was. The girl couldn't follow simple rules.

If she had in fact triggered the Hebert girl. She flicked her eyes to the body cam thumbnail on the big screen labeled Sgt. Rodriguez and shook her head. The girl hadn't been aware of the attack on Shadow Stalker. Or she was the best actress ever.

Current Ops was working on wording to figure out how to find out if Hebert knew Shadow Stalker was Sophia Hess without tipping her to who it was. Rodriguez needed promoted for refusing that idiot query. The system needed to be looked at to. How had it let that bit of stupid through? Granted it was a rapidly changing situation but still….

Plus this new report that Panacea had treated the Hebert girl for the same infections and injuries Shadow Stalker had been given. Except in Hebert's case it was bugs, not a rapier, doing the damage.

The email trail Dragon and Armsmaster had already uncovered was going to take down those three girls, Shadow Stalker and her posse, plus the principle of that school along with Shadow Stalker's handler, at least. She snorted. Armsmaster thought the handler was being mastered. Emily was pretty certain she was just a fuck up, maybe greedy.

Crusader, in his civilian ID had been the drunk that killed Hebert's mother. Hebert, Daniel, had already gotten lawyers on that, the University and its lawyers and law school was helping, and it looked grim for Crusaders insurance company. Really grim as they had decided to take it to court.

And now this on top of that. Their goose was cooked. So was the Empires. Some of those Law Professors were retired judges and had serious pull.

Unless they had big fat checkbooks that were going to be made very damn skinny of course, now that Crusader was dead.

Maybe even then. Annette Hebert had been a wildly popular, tenured, professor.

Professor Hebert had also been a Lustrum member, maybe even enforcer. Apparently not a cape but that was unknown.

So Hebert had a guardian angel. Maybe a former Lustrum cape, or member who was a cape now. Or one of the DWU had triggered. They had been tight with Marquis. The Marche was just the kind of organization that would pull some shit like this. That guardian angel had the ability to tell who a cape was even through the disguise.

Intel had already twigged to that. It had stopped the room for a few seconds when it went in their briefing up in another window on the screen.

People should really study the people they were fucking with. No telling who some plain Jane was connected to. Plus anyone could trigger. Sometimes over the mildest provocation. Just look at Glory Girl triggering over a basketball game. During the damn game!

Though this one seemed to do her research. She had killed Crusader and only nearly killed Shadow Stalker, exactly as she said she was going to and with reasons. No good reasons but reasons.


	2. Chapter 2

Swordsman? 2

"Hey Dad."

Danny looked at Taylor "You don't look like a murdering psychopath parahuman."

Taylor rolled her eyes and huffed from inside the hug he was giving her. "Because I'm not?"

Danny laughed as he let go. "I know, I told them. They didn't listen. I already called the lawyer."

Taylor sighed. That was her fathers answer to everything nowadays. Which was fine, really, but it took forever to get satisfaction. Speaking of which "Crusader is Clause Klinsky!"

Danny nodded "Was. The lawyers called me about that. He was driving a Medhall company car. They are going after Medhall and the Empire too."

"Good, fuck them."

"Language young lady! Drop your stuff Taylor and let's get to the gym before it gets crowded." Danny looked at the PRT Sergeant. Who shrugged "Taylor needs to be able to defend herself? Thought I would show her some stuff."

Danny nodded "Hey, I might tag along. I should probably get current too." Taylor looked at Michelle's grin and groaned. She was doomed. Danny nodded "Get changed Taylor, I'll tell you about this duplex on the way to the gym. Apparently, they keep these for like witness protection or something like it. Hard to get more secure than the middle of a military base."

Taylor frowned. Dad was way too into this whole deal. She shot a glare at Michelle, who grinned at her.

Swordsman?

While Taylor was getting tortured, trained, one of those tr words, the government apparatus ground on in its inevitable way. Public Relations people got spun up. Operations folks kept operating and Intelligence people kept putting estimates together and updating the current situation estimates.

In the Sub Sub Basement of the PT buiding, Doctor Edgar A Poe, no relation, Medical Examiner looked at the body that had been brought into his mortuary. He turned on the cameras and recorders and spun the bone saw up to speed then released the switch. His assistant rolled his eyes. Ed was such a drama queen. Of course growing up with that name he was probably doing pretty good. Some parents should not be allowed to name children.

Swordsman?

Kaiser, the leader of the Empire 88, did not have an adequately funded investigative, operational or intelligence section. He looked at Victor and Othala. Victor shrugged "No idea. Plus you had us negotiate our way out instead of fight. That cape attacking the little darky actually helped, It got pretty chaotic and we managed to get outside the cordon. We should probably send her something nice. Plus she is white and completely destroyed that little bitch. Panacea was still treating her when they loaded her in the ambulance."

Othala nodded "And the things I overheard; we won't see shady bitch for a while. That cape gave her hundreds of diseases. Panacea was still finding them as they left. It was disgusting."

Bradly, Hookwolf snorted "Probably already had them, you know those types are unclean. It's their nature."

Kaiser nodded. Not like he believed that bullshit for a minute but it was the party line. "A ward was attacked however. A Member of the Empire killed, and another maimed and is now in PRT custody."

Rune shrugged "By Siberian Junior, maybe we don't want to go at this thing head on." Everyone around the table looked at her. Kaiser finally nodded "From the mouths of babes. We will wait and see what the PRT finds out."

Swordsman?

Coil blinked and started another timeline. The fifty third of the day. This had never happened before.

Swordsman?

Lisa blinked at the TV. Alec looked at her "Can I have the TV back now?" Lisa rose a bit and pulled the remote out from under her butt. Alec snorted.

Brian looked at her "So?"

Lisa shrugged "My power says it isn't a parahuman and goes back to hiding."

Brian blinked "How is it hiding."

"I have no idea."

Brian thought that was potentially the most disturbing thing he had heard yet today. And today had been pretty disturbing.

Swordsman?

Taylor cooked with Michelle watching and got nods. After they ate the pasta with meat sauce, and a salad, Michelle shrugged "OK so I won't have to teach you how to cook." Taylor poked her tongue out at her. Michelle grinned "Good thing, we can spend all our time teaching you to defend yourself, at least the basics. You suck at that." She chuckled at the glare she got while Taylor rubbed her still aching butt. She had been thrown on it a million times, or at least that's what it felt like.

"So what's up tomorrow?" Taylor asked.

"0530 PT then we will see. The PRT will be getting their shit together overnight. Probably an interview, a medical exam for sure. Then we will go from there. Meanwhile don't you have like schoolwork to do since you are home schooling while your dad tries to sue the board of education into poverty?"

Taylor nodded and shrugged "Not that hard really. I could probably test all the way out now. I might before the end of the year. I have been looking at some college courses. Distance learning they call it."

"Yeah, we do that, so do the military branches. You got to have at least an associate's degree to make anything above staff sergeant nowadays. Bachelors if you want to be really competitive. OK the squad is in the other side of this duplex. Your laptop is set up. Call if you have any problems. See you at 0530."

Taylor groaned and wandered in the living room of the duplex set of quarters to find her dad watching Terminator Three. She folded into the couch and vegged out.

Swordsman?

"Colin, you need to get some sleep."

"You know tinking helps my thinking Dragon. I will, I am just reviewing todays events. The evidence Miss Hebert gave us is disturbing."

"Disgusting you mean, however Director Piggot has already moved on that. If Shadow Stalker recovers she will be going straight to juvenile detention and the other two will be apprehended tomorrow and placed in M and S screening. After that they will be tried. Possibly as adults."

"And when Swordsman finds out?"

Dragon blinked in the monitor "Swordsman? It is obviously a girl."

"I don't pick the names Dragon."

"Well we will have to see what happens." Dragon allowed.

"Shadow Stalker would have died without Panacea being right there."

"Did you notice her actions were, well, she did what she said she was going to and she seemed to account for Panacea getting to Shadow Stalker quickly. She hardly touched Alabastor. Well, he was never in danger of dying anyway."

"I was going to say that was more than hardly touching him Dragon."

Swordsman?

"Ames?"

"Yeah Vicky?"

"Still busy?"

"Mmhmm. On one of the medical websites, I catalogued what I found and submitted a case study, three actually. I got a pretty good debate going."

"School tomorrow. Don't stay up all night talking to your doctor buddies."

Amy gave her sister a smile "OK Mom." Vicky gave her a look, and floated out of her bedroom. Amy went back to reading and typing replies.

Queen Administrator observed the female in the movie and then her transportation. Obviously, some improvements could be made. Hmm, who was in inventory and active. Oh! Queen Shaper! Miniaturization and Efficiency, maybe it could help some. Transportation. Well that could be handy. Oh oh oh! Conflict engine three. They could run simulations! Oh Metallurgist, well well, this would be easy. 'Oh, hello there, I see you hiding over there inference engine. Don't run you will only have to work tired then. Why yes Queen Shaper, just like the female on the entertainment device. Yes, very interesting.'

Swordsman?

Danny chuckled as Taylor got fourths of dinner "Michelle will work you to death working that off."

Taylor nodded "I know, but I'm starving."

Danny chuckled "Kids." He ignored the glare he was getting.

"So, what do you think Dad?"

"It's the government honey. It will take them a while but they will figure out they are wrong soon. Meanwhile someone using your name and with your body build took on the Empire and a Ward. I think we are safest here. Plus, a free check up on their dime and if they find anything, since we are on their base, they get to pay."

Taylor nodded "Airforce, Marines, Army, Coast Guard and the PRT. What happened to the Navy?"

Danny laughed "All those women in the blue and gold shorts and sports bras? That's a P3 Orion Squadron. The military and PRT just moved all the bases together cutting cost. Then the PRT came along and got added to the fold sort of, at least for housing. Easier to make your people safe if they are all in one place. So, these are Junior enlisted married and Non Commissioned Officer quarters. The single folks live in barracks up to Sergeant. Like those across the street out there. Even if they aren't married by then they get at least one of these. More rank, bigger house. More kids bigger house too. Michelle's quarters are the ones on the other side of that wall."

Taylor blinked and looked interested. Danny groaned "Don't join the PRT to get a two-bedroom duplex."

Taylor hmphed and turned back to the movie.

Swordsman?

Taylor woke and stretched. She lay for a moment gathering her thoughts about yesterday. Those fucking little bitches! She turned to the right in the double bed and looked from her warm nest to the alarm clock. Its red eye glaring at her. She blinked. What the hell? How was she seeing this clearly? She was near sighted?

She jerked in surprise when the alarm changed to five a.m. and announced it to the world in its strident voice. She groaned and got out of bed. Michelle was going to be one of those perky morning people.

Danny lay in bed, he hadn't slept that well. Taylor's alarm, or the one that came with the furnished quarters rather, had woke him. He had been disoriented for an instant but adjusted quickly. He grinned at Taylor fumbling through the unfamiliar environment on her way to the bath in the hall. He chuckled at the squawking in the shower.

Danny sat up and got himself moving heading off to the ensuite bath. Rank had its privileges and he got the master suite.

Taylor made it down in sweats with shorts and a T shirt on under it and carrying her trainers. She looked at the table in the eat in kitchen and frowned. Danny laughed "Fruit for now, breakfast when we are done exercising."

Taylor nodded. "Dishwasher. The Military lives good."

Danny nodded "We should probably remodel our kitchen. We were going to do it but never got around to it."

Taylor smiled sadly. "Mom liked it."

Danny chuckled "No, she did not. Don't you remember her stopping to look at the dishwashers every time we went in a home store? You don't do you. You and Emma were busy looking at Doctor Curly Hair project supplies."

Taylor chuckled then sighed "I don't know what happened to her."

"Thank god for that gym. I managed to work off the anger. I may be spending a lot of time there." Danny replied.

Taylor frowned "We aren't going to be here that long are we? I mean I didn't do anything. It had to be those three framing me. I know the government works slow but surely they will figure it out pretty quick?"

"Quick on the scale of government maybe. That would be months rather than years. And then we have to make sure the message got to the Empire. We managed to keep them out of the DWU so far, but they haven't quit trying.

"Good thing it didn't happen to Hookwolf. He has followers. Crusader not so much, though he was part of Kaiser's crew. Alabastor was his partner.

"The lawyers will keep them busy though."

Taylor shook her head "I don't see how, it will just be another charge in the thousands against the Empire already."

Danny nodded "It all adds up, and will sink them eventually. It already sinks a lot of their members when the cops and prosecutors figure out their Empire associations.

"Not to change the subject but why did you just go with the PRT squad yesterday?"

"Cause I forgot my anarchist mask and hoodie? They walked right up, I had no idea what was going on and they said protective custody. Aren't you supposed to be telling me to cooperate with the police?" Taylor arched a brow.

Danny shrugged "It's a good idea, at least up to a point, they do carry guns. You fight the law and the law wins, usually. Unless you can get them in court and get a sympathetic jury."

They both turned to the back door as someone knocked and Michelle walked in "Morning. Ready?"

Taylor sighed "No." Michelle grinned at her. Taylor scowled, morning person. She knew it!

Swordsman?

Emily Piggot arrived at her office at 0600. She logged in and checked both her email and the overnight summary, then went to the command conference room for the update briefing. Which she knew would run long this morning.

Emily arrived in the conference room and the G1 started right away. No one wanted to waste time in this meeting, they all had a world of work to do. In a departure from precedent the Medical Examiner briefed before the G2. Emily blinked at his statement "No evidence of parahuman abilities. But we know for a fact this was Crusader."

The Ed nodded "If you thinks that's strange, we had MRI scans from him before. Now they match in every detail, minus the pollentia and gemma. So it isn't Abby Normal's brain. Those structures are simply gone. With no indication of how it was done. No tool marks, no indications of surgery, even if that was possible, no artifacts of a gamma knife, nothing."

Emily frowned "Significance?"

"None, just interesting. Unless we see it again of course. Something to add to the constantly growing mysteries of parahuman powers." Doctor Poe shrugged.

The other G staff briefed and then Emily nodded "And where are we with the investigations?"

The G3 groaned "Nowhere. Well more than nowhere, but it wasn't the Taylor Hebert we have in custody. As far as anyone can tell the girl doesn't have powers. The thinkers have been watching the video along with the rest of us. Nothing, no indications at all.

"On the other matter, Madison Clements sang like a canary. Much of it corroborated the evidence gathered from the Hebert girl. We are going to owe the Hebert's millions the lawyers tell me, that may still not keep the courts and prosecutors off of us. The prosecutors' investigations have widened to all of the staff of Winslow and a good portion of the students. How the school got in that condition is going to ride the school district into the ground."

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose and then wrapped up the update briefing.

Swordsman?

Vicky snapped into motion as the figure in black stepped around the corner and took Amys hand in hers "My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you are ill." The figure made some kind of move swinging herself and Amy around and Glory Girl sailed past at a significant fraction of mach and slammed into the wall of the school. Fortunately it was a very thick, reinforced, concrete wall. Sort of suburban brutal style architecture.

By the time Vicky picked herself up and got back to Amy the tall thin girl in the tights, thigh high boots, and baggy shirt was running away, fast. "What the actual fuck? Amy?" She looked at her sister who was standing, leaned back against another wall and smiling goofily. The dark circles gone from under her eyes and her skin a sort of light tan under the dusting of freckles.

Vicky blinked as Amy pushed off the wall hugged herself and did a little happy dance. She blinked again as Amy looked at her and smiled, like a Cheshire cat. "What?" Amy didn't say anything and Vicky looked at herself "Are my clothes messed up?"

"I'm gay, I think. At least I like to look at girls more than boys."

"That bitch made you gay? I'll kill her!"

Amy sighed "No god made me gay, the god of your choice, mother nature, whatever. Your aura didn't help really. That was confusing as fuck. It doesn't bother me now. Look out!"

"My name Is Taylor Anne Hebert and you are dangerous."

Vicky tried to fly forward to get away from the hand gripping her neck but she was frozen, floating a couple inches off the floor. Amy shouted "Hey! You can't just run around doing stuff to people! And then running away! Get back here!" She strode up to Vicky and touched her "Oh wow. How the fuck did she do that?"

"Uh do what? Am I alright? I mean I don't feel anything, well something, but it doesn't hurt."

"Let's see what this does." Amy concentrated "OK, that's 'fear me."

"Wow that was strange. How did you do that?"

Amy grinned at her sister "Like this"

"Hey!"

Amy walked off towing Vicky and playing with the sort of sliding switches she found.

Dean Stansfield found them by Vicky's locker "Is Vicky alright?"

"Oh, hey Dean. I'm fine, we got attacked by Swordsman. Shouldn't that be Swordswoman? I mean that was definitely a girl." Vicky replied. Amy was apparently busy.

"What?"

The first bell range and Amy walked off still towing Vicky "Later Babe." Vicky waved her other hand at Dean.

"What?"

Dennis, Dean's friend, shook his head "Sucks you lost out, that's hot as fuck though. It would only be better if they were twins."

"Fuck you Dennis." Dean walked off.

"What? Ask anybody dude!"

Swordsman?

Taylor worked the laptop she had been given like a demon, pushing its fan to a hundred percent of capacity. She was also working a fiber optic connection over pretty hard. Michelle arched a brow "You okay there Taylor?"

"What?" Taylor looked up confused. "Oh, uh, well, we have dial up and a clunky old desktop at home. I've been looking at laptops and trying to talk dad into a better connection. Meanwhile I got this from you guys so I figured I would get all the work done that I can while I am here.

"This isn't really hard and no one can steal your homework. I can probably knock out a bunch. I read pretty fast."

Michelle nodded "Power testing this afternoon."

Taylor snorted "Of someone who doesn't have powers."

"Ours is not to reason why. Plus your lawyer thinks it's a great idea. That's what he told your dad anyway."

Taylor nodded "So those guys are just going to stand around Dad's office all day? They are going to be so bored! I went down there on a couple of bring your daughter to work days. It's just dad doing email or yelling at the phone."

Swordsman?

In Operations they received the report of the 'attack' on Panacea and Glory Girl and checked the body cam footage of the troopers near Swordsman, or Taylor Hebert rather. The battle captain sighed, they would have to classify all of this video, and keyed his radio "Dog actual, can't you get her to wear a mask?" He listened to Michelle's subvocalized response. "You and I both think that, but she hasn't been tested."

"Anyway, about forty minutes ago Panacea and Glory Girl were reportedly attacked by Swordsman. She healed Panacea and did something to Glory girls powers according to Kid Win who heard them talking in home room."

"So she was right there doing schoolwork. OK I'll get IT to pull her key logger. We already pulled you and Dog three's body cam. Anybody else inside with you?"

"OK, got it, we will let you know."

Swordsman?

Vicky looked at Amy. They were sitting at the lunch table and she had finally gotten Amy to let go of her hand after she proved she could work the sliders, switches? Whatever, on her aura after home room. Truth is she was kind of enjoying having them shut all the way off. She was left alone for once, well, aside from some really creepy fanboys and girls. "So why does she announce herself? Plus she doesn't wear glasses so is she even 'Taylor Anne Hebert' like those pictures the PRT asked us to positively ID?"

Amy looked up from her fruit salad "Who? Oh. Too much Princess Bride? How am I supposed to know? Bigger bust too."

Vicky nodded "Just thought you may have some idea, being a fellow healer and all." Then she waggled her eyebrows at Amy "Something I should know Ames?

Amy blinked "Uh, striker. We were right there when she whacked Crusader. And no. It's pretty obvious, don't think I haven't seen you scoping out chicks."

"Which was cool, did the videos show all of it? If so that video guy deserves like an Emmy or something."

Both girls turned to Dennis. Amy shook her head "No idea, haven't watched them." She put her hand out as he lifted a phone "And don't want to."

Carlos slid into a seat "So Trump, power thief. She healed you of something Amy?"

Vicky frowned "Whose power is 'monomolecular edged weapons' as Autismmaster said?"

Chris nodded and shrugged "A tinker?"

Amy replied to Carlos "I, well, I was exhausted. Plus Vicky's aura was constantly on. Swordsman fixed it."

Dean nodded then defended his girlfriend "She's been working on it."

Vicky smiled at him "This is better. Flick, off, flick, blast. I can even do both at the same time now."

Dennis blinked "How would that even work?"

Vicky grinned "Let's find out." Dennis legged it.

Chris was looking at his phone and tapping it occasionally "Power tinker? Is that even a thing?" He looked up "Where is Dennis?"

Carlos sighed "Situational awareness zero."

Dennis popped back up "Scoping out chicks?"

Vicky turned her head to him and he ran, again. The other students were getting a good laugh at him. Vicky shook her head "Got to know what the competition is right Ames?"

Swordsman?

Emily looked at her monitor. A hundred and nine events involving Swordsman. From the healing attack on Panacea and the power tinking of Glory Girl, to levitating old ladies groceries into their houses. Healing street people she did in sort of a drive by. Muggers and other criminals got a different kind of drive by, None lethal so far today thank god. A few probably permanently maimed though. That rapist for sure. Well he wouldn't be raping anybody else without a tool of some kind. Prison was going to be bad for him.

All while everyone who was anyone watched Taylor Hebert power test to no result. Though she was top of the band for her age and sex. Ninety ninth percentile human certainly. Fast, strong, intelligent, great eyesight, and hearing. Spectacular balance. All that plus she had the stamina of a herd of oxen.

And absolutely no parahuman abilities. If they had pushed any harder they might have triggered her. Plus Armsmaster's prototype lie detector said she was telling the truth, or at least she believed what she was saying was true.

Emily drummed her fingers on the desk, maybe they could get her in the PRT?

One of the thinkers more wild guesses were looking more and more true, a power set was using the girls form and name. A power set just running around on its own. A dangerous, high rated across broad categories powerset. A mobile high order grab bag with no host that was an identity thief. How was that even possible?

Of course she had refused an MRI. Her reasoning was infallible though. She didn't want to know and have her life turned upside down. Or face murder charges. Or pay for Tupacing people with a sword.

Panacea could be brought in though. How to get Panacea to tell them after she knew?

If they couldn't corral this cape, powerset, whatever, then the best place for the girl would be a PRT Base. Why not a job that came with an armored, tinted, face plate?

Swordsman?

Michelle looked at Taylor collapsed on the sofa. Though she had the laptop out again, and from the sound of the keys clacking was back to typing a hundred forty words a minute. Probably with six different windows open again. At least if that fan whining was an indicator. "Hey want to help with dinner? I usually make dinner for the whole squad. DFAC food is a little fatty. Plus you tried to eat them out of house and home at breakfast and lunch, it's only a buck seventy five Taylor, you don't have to work that hard for value for that money."

Taylor looked up "DFAC, Dining Facility, OK. Sure, what are we making?"

Michelle watched her stand up "Crap, are you taller?"

Taylor blinked "Uh, no?"

"You are, that bra is too small too." Taylor blushed. She was kind of spilling out the top of the bra, in a firm way. She was kind of liking it, first time ever and all.


	3. Chapter 3

Swordsman? 3

Emily looked at her email, she had arrived at her normal 0600. She saw the numbers, a burst of activity tapering off to a steady state, though still high, toward dawn, and nodded. She had thought that would happen. While Swordsman might not get tired the criminals weren't complete idiots. They had a sort of low cunning about law enforcement after all. Swordsman would just be a new type of law enforcement to be adjusted for. She finished up her email and headed for the command conference room.

During the normal course of the briefing something occurred to her and after the G4 briefed she leaned forward "Commander Rydel, how far apart were these incidents Swordsman was reported causing or stopping in both distance and time?"

Charlotte Rydel the G3 third shift lead smiled, tiredly. "Good catch ma'am. The simple answer is miles and near simultaneous. A cat out of a tree on Bleeker, a rape stopped on Bayview, a domestic broken up on Church. Bang, bang bang. It went on all night. Of course with the normal periods of slack as there isn't actually a crime every second, though the cat rescues did fill some of that down time. What the hell is wrong with cats? I mean they get up the damn trees, why can't they get down?"

Emily blinked "Interesting question, send it up the chain. So, you are telling me we have a miniature, female, black tights, thigh high boots, poofy shirt, wearing Scion Junior?

"What was Herbert doing?"

Charlotte looked at her tablet "Calculus, history, business Law, watching all the Terminator movies, though that seems to be Mister Hebert, and… eating five full meals apparently?"

"Medical exam for Hebert today. No way that girl eats five meals before bed. If that doesn't turn up anything get Panacea to her after school. Whatever this thing is it's using her for fuel. Not just an identity. If we can find a way to shield her from it maybe we can stop it." Emily instructed.

Swordsman?

Michelle looked at Taylor "Medics, today. Nobody gains a cup size a day, or grows two inches a night."

Taylor nodded "Yeah, plus check this out." She took the empty weight bar and tied it in a knot. Everyone in the gym flinched at the metal shrieking. Taylor dusted her hands from the chrome that had flaked off the bar.

Michelle sighed and handed her a mask from her assault pack "Well you weren't a parahuman before but that's brute two at least."

Taylor blinked "Really?"

Trooper Johnson nodded "Breaker too, that bar should have snapped. That metal is strong but brittle."

"Fuck, my life." Taylor face palmed.

"Sorry." Michelle hugged her. "Really sorry. You are going to have to deal with Armsmaster now. I'll call Miss Militia."

Taylor blinked "What's wrong with Armsmaster?"

Trooper Hendricks, Mary, told her "Nothing, but, first tinker, then efficiency. People aren't very efficient."

Taylor shook her head "Dad is going to freak and call the lawyers."

Michelle nodded "Good. Come on, finish up, then showers."

Swordsman?

Amy watched Vicky trying to look everywhere and giggled "I think we are safe."

"Yeah well, we thought that yesterday. And last night. Then Zorro charged at us, and last night at Dad."

Amy grinned "Fixed him though."

"Gave mom an aneurism."

Amy giggled "She is still pissed. Its her own fault, Swordsman didn't chop up the sofa, an ottoman, two end tables, and the front door."

"Aunt Sarah pointing that out didn't help."

"You must get it from her."

"Hey! And what about you, little miss taking the night off?"

Amy did a little pirouette "Swordsman hit all the ICU's. She did bill the hospitals and apparently Medicare for services rendered in the name of Taylor Hebert though. I may have to meet this girl and figure out how she did that."

"Yeah, we will work on that. You should get paid. I get the vigilante act money. You should get something."

Amy nodded "The PRT and Protectorate have always paid. Most of the countries where Endbringers attack, well, the ones I attended, paid a lump sum. Pretty nice. Uncle Neil has it all in a fund and manages it. I'm not poor. Not that that is why I attend."

Vicky gave her a one-armed hug. Amy snorted "Stop being lazy, I'm not towing you around."

Swordsman?

Brian looked at Lisa walking through the base in miniscule panties and a way too large T shirt, that still managed not to cover below her belly button, off one shoulder with obviously no bra on. He looked at Alec. Alec shrugged "We missed the orgy? Nice rack and butt though. Shaved all the way up too."

Lisa flipped them the bird and kept going into the kitchen. Brian sighed and got up.

Lisa was making coffee when he got to the kitchen "Feels like Alec is right." Lisa shuddered "But it was my power that had the orgy."

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Brian arched a brow. Lisa shook her head "Seriously. Maybe later after I figure out what the fuck is happening." She paused "Uh, don't fuck with Panacea, or this Hebert girl. Like ever. Their powers… well, let's just say that what normal are to us we are to them." Brian blinked. Lisa nodded "S class in the PRT method of rating, at least."

"OK, well, been nice knowing you guys. See you around maybe eh?" Brian looked in the living area where Alec hadn't just called out but was actually up and moving toward his room. With a purpose.

Swordsman?

Kaiser looked at his email and groaned. Then he scanned the subject lines. Hundreds of complaints about Swordsman interfering with the activities of the Empire? What. Oh, not quite a hundred. "Victor!"

Swordsman?

Lung looked at the Clan leaders. He drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair and they shuffled nervously. "All of the brothels raided by a cape." The Clan leaders froze "The whores turned over to the police." No one breathed.

"Oni Lee!"

The masked cape appeared in the room "Find Swordsman. Kill them. Bring me the body."

"Hai." The cape disappeared; the clone fell to dust. Lung scowled at the mess on the carpet. He lifted his eyes to one of the clan leaders. The workers on the casino floor ignored the screaming. Such things were the way of dragons.

Swordsman?

Rebecca Costa Brown, Chief Director of the PRT looked at the report summary and shook her head. She then clicked on the referenced reports. Fucking Brockton Bay. Coil obviously had no control of that hive of scum and villainy. It was time to revoke his charter.

Goddamn Piggot would just not fucking die as well. Bitch had a will of iron and was existing on bile and spite. And doing a damn competent, more than competent, job of running that directorate even with it starved of resources. If the idiot bitch would get over her prejudices and avail herself of the best parahuman healer on the planet there was no telling what she could accomplish.

She sighed "Time to cut our losses with Mister Calvert. Fuck that little worm."

Swordsman?

"My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you are injured." Emily emptied the magazine of her service pistol into the black clad figure. To absolutely no effect. The sirens going off and the squad charging into the room had no effect either.

When it was over Emily stood and looked around her destroyed, foam covered, office with the pile of papers burning on her desk, and the monitors all shattered. "Fucking capes."

Deputy Director Renick grinned "Once you see a mirror you won't say that."

Emily rolled her eyes "Fine, come on everyone, M and S confinement." The troopers of the protection detail groaned.

Swordsman?

Colin, Armsmaster, grunted "Nothing yesterday and brute two, with some kind of breaker field involving metal, today. With no evidence of a trigger."

Hannah, Miss Militia nodded "Triumph was in the other side of the duplex, awake, all night. He would have noticed.

"I'm a bit more concerned with Swordsman's attack on Director Piggot."

"The lawyers won't even try to bring charges for unwanted healing as she did not have an order in her medical records. She is going to be even more difficult now." Colin nodded.

Hannah shrugged "This is a strange one."

"Unique." Colin allowed.

"Maybe Panacea will find something." Hannah suggested.

Swordsman?

Amy looked at the girl, and looked at her, and looked some more. Taylor blushed and Michelle chuckled. Amy shook herself. "OK, PRT out. Miss Hebert sit." She pointed at the table in the Troop Medical Clinic exam room.

Taylor sighed "You aren't going to take blood are you? Or pee, pee is worse. I don't think I have much blood left though."

Amy huffed at her "I just have to touch you."

"Where?" Taylor looked wary.

Amy blushed, then chuckled "Bad day?"

"Doctors."

Amy nodded "Sorry, I can just put a finger on the back of your hand though."

Taylor sighed "Fine." She offered a hand.

Amy put a finger on her and blushed furiously "Wow. What the heck. You are the most female that ever femaled. No pollentia or gemma though."

Taylor frowned "Uh, thanks? I tested brute two though."

Amy paused still holding her index finger on the back of Taylors hand. "Yeah, OK, something with your muscles, they are denser than normal. Way denser."

Taylor nodded "I weighed two hundred odd pounds on three different scales. It was embarrassing."

Amy nodded distractedly "Still growing but not much more, two and half centimeters maybe. Holy crap, your breast have muscles. Every bodies do but yours are like, wow. And your Coopers ligaments! Again wow. Gluteus maximus, all your muscles, have this weird high density. Bone density off the charts. Fertility same. What is going on with your digestive tract? OK, normal turned to twenty and the knob broken off.

"You know, it's like I maxed someone out. I did the research to do this when I first figured out I had powers.

"Oh shit! Did I do this to you when I treated you?"

Taylor blinked "Uh no? That was a couple of weeks ago and this started like yesterday." Taylor shrugged "Even if you did, thanks? Uh, about that fertility deal?"

Amy grinned "I can turn your ovaries off."

Taylor frowned "I might want kids one day. How about a pause?"

Swordsman?

Hannah glared at Colin and killed the audio "I can't believe you let talk me into that."

"I have a warrant."

"from a judge who is retiring tomorrow. "

"Armsmaster, Console."

"Armsmaster."

"Oni Lee is engaging Swordsman."

"Send me the map data." Colin was already moving as was Miss Militia.

Swordsman?

Colin slid the bike around the last corner nearly laid on its side. He dismounted and ran three steps as the bike straightened up and went on autopilot to circle around out of the line of fire. Literal fire as while he had been enroute Lung had shown up.

He stepped up to Oni Lees body and felt for a pulse, or his armor did. "Oni Lee is dead. Moving to engage Lung."

"Armsmaster, Militia, two buildings over, one up. There are hundreds of Swordsmen clones fighting Lung."

"Roger."

Lung roared and lunged. He paid with an arm and a leg this time. Unfortunately, both were on the same side and he toppled.

Armsmaster rounded the corner just as Swordsman separated Lungs head from his shoulders. Oddly her offhand was touching Lungs snout. The clones disappeared and Armsmaster growled as the cape left at high speed. "Let's get Panacea here. I want to see if this is the same as Crusader."

Miss Militia answered "I'll call Sergeant Rodriguez."

Swordsman?

Alice Tanaka, the tinker known as Bakuda, looked at the rapier pinning her to the telephone pole. "My name is Taylor Anne Hebert and you are insane."

Alice growled and moved and the rapier opened a long rent in her. "If you move you will die." The cape in front of her touched her and the rent went away? Though she was still pinned like a bug to a collector's board.

Swordsman?

"Armsmaster, Velocity. I have a woman pinned to a telephone pole by Swordsman. The location should be on your HUD."

"Is the victim masked?"

"What? Uh no."

"Put a mask on her. Do not engage. I will be there as soon as the PRT covers Lung and Oni Lees' bodies."

Velocity took his ear piece out and looked at it. Then he sighed, put it back in and darted toward Swordsman and her prisoner. He skidded to a halt at the held-up finger "Uh, she is a cape."

"Of the type known as a tinker. Energetic initiation single use reactions. The tinker is insane." Swordsman replied.

Velocity held up a generic mask. The tinker started cursing. Velocity saw a nod and stepped up and put the mask on her.

"You have the foam?"

The cursing got louder while Velocity held up a grenade. "Use it and I will withdraw the blade."

Velocity pulled the pin and set the grenade down at the tinker's feet then backed up, faster than the normal eye could follow. There was a pop and Velocity watched as Swordsman's hands, she still had a finger on the cape, were covered in containment foam, then gaped as she simply pulled them out of the foam, blade first. "How did you do that?" He looked around at the non-answer and Swordsman was gone. "Fuck." He keyed is earpiece "Tinker in custody, Swordsman left the area." He felt sure he heard Armsmaster grinding his teeth.

Swordsman?

Emily watched the screen in the M and S holding cell and sent another text. Poor Paul. What a time for her to be tanked. Pretty much confirmed Hebert wasn't Swordsman though. Panacea had her hand on the girl for god's sake. Ah well, it was a good Directorate, or at least the people in it were good. She had weeded out the ten percenters. And she would be out of the tank before the Empire could get their shit together to move on the ABB, or former ABB.

The G2's humint sources in the merchants were still not aware of Swordsman. They were aware it had gotten more dangerous to be a pusher, just not why. Oddly they were busy being puzzled over why people were cleaned up and their addiction broken after an overdose, or injury.

That appeared to be the physical addiction. Most of them went right back to using but at much reduced rates, back at the start of the cycle again after Swordsman touched them.

Coil only had his mercenaries; he wouldn't be able to take over the ABB. Though he could cause mayhem.

What a pain in the ass! Though it might be interesting to see whether Swordsman had enough sense to realize she had just set the Asian community up to be slaughtered or not.

Swordsman?

Michelle grinned at Taylor, who rolled her eyes. Panacea had not been able to let go of her. Now they were riding to where Oni Lee and Lung had been killed and Panacea was holding her hand.

Michelle looked past Kimbark on the gun out the gunner's hatch at Glory Girl flying along over them. This was a cluster fuck of epic proportions already and was bound to get worse. Glad it wasn't her name on the blame line really. All she had to do was keep Taylor safe.

The truck stopped and the ramp dropped. Taylor looked at Panacea, snorted and got up pulling Panacea after her.

She walked out, down the ramp and Glory Girl hovered next to her "Sorry. Amy normally isn't like this."

Taylor nodded "Its fine. Not sure she is like 'this' now. I am just the most interesting thing in the area."

Michelle looked around and nodded toward the sheet covered lump. Taylor grimaced and led Panacea that way. When they got close Vicky looked at Amy then shook her head "Hey, lover girl, time to work."

"Vicky!" Amy snapped and then looked around. She bent down and touched a hand. "Crusader special."

Vicky grinned "You still haven't let go of Taylor."

Amy reluctantly did "Sorry. Its all so interesting. You need food too. No idea how you are burning that many calories."

Michelle reached into a cargo pocket and handed Taylor a thing the size of a granola bar wrapped in dark green. "Emergency ration bar."

Taylor unwrapped it and took a nibble "Oh gross."

Mary laughed "Yeah. They always have that iron aftertaste. Notice it didn't stop you though. Things should have a master rating. The wonders of science."

Amy, now through rattling information at the crime scene guys looked around "Lizard?"

Michelle led them back to the truck. She wasn't leaving her heavy weapons behind. Glory Girl landed and walked up the ramp "Your guys are going to be busy, there are Oni piles everywhere."

Michelle nodded "Apparently it was pretty intense."

Amy shrugged and grabbed Taylors free hand "Well it for sure wasn't Taylor. Plus, she still doesn't have a pollentia or gemma."

Taylor sighed "So what? I got remotely bio tinked?"

Vicky blinked "And isn't that terrifying. Thanks Taylor."

"Sorry." Taylor was a little pale.

Amy nodded and shook her head "Something is different about your brain. I don't do brains normally but I can see them and yours is, more organized? More efficient maybe. Did you ever hear that pop science bullshit about how people only use a tiny percentage of their brains? It's bullshit as we don't really understand how brains actually work, but it is not true in your specific case at all. Hence all that food. Brains need glucose. Yours needs a lot.

"Same with your everything. It isn't extraordinary, other than being as efficient as possible. Certainly much more efficient than other people. Its not like you got bio hydraulics, like insects, instead of mammal muscles.

"All that said, I can't really tell you what a brain and body like that is capable of."

Mary chuckled "Making a top of the line laptop and fiber connection beg for mercy for one. The IT geeks want to have your babies."

Michelle shot Mary a look. Taylor shrugged "Key logger, I figured, I mean you are the government and Orwell was right. Plus, the log in screen said it was subject to monitoring."

The truck stopped and the ramp dropped. They got out and Amy looked at the large sheet covered lump then the small one. "Well that's one way to stop Lung."

Vicky whistled lowly "Man, the Empire is going to spaz."

Taylor blinked then nodded "Yeah this could be bad."

Swordsman?

Queen Administrator stood on top of the water tower on a post war apartment building at the edge of ABB territory mumbling to herself, or her minion shards, someone. "I didn't go after them, they went after me. Now we just have to stop these little bullies and it will be fine. Then we can work on optimizing and integrating these newest members of the family. Stop that Salamander. You are not in charge. You will do what you are told. Resistance is futile." She glared toward downtown and pinched her left index finger and thumb together.

Swordsman?

Vista released the compression on the space and looked at the others "Uh, has anyone checked the Birdcage?"

Carlos nodded, shook his head, and shrugged "Or where the Butcher is."

Dennis summed up "This is total and complete bullshit. Why is it the hot chicks that are always crazy S class."

Missy, Vista of the Wards, twisted the space around him "See." Dennis got wide eyed under his mask and blushed when he realized he said that out loud.

Missy let the twisted space go and punched him in the stomach bending him double. Carlos sighed.

Dean looked at Chris who was tapping like mad on his phone "What are you doing?"

"Anti-power theft helmet. Need beryllium. And sodium."

Dean blinked "Doesn't sodium explode if you get it wet?"


	4. Chapter 4

Swordsman? 4

Danny grinned at Taylor, who was jammed in the corner of the couch with Amy Dallon siting nearly on her, with a hand on her neck "Given up?"

"Hey! You were the one who said it was a good idea." Taylor shot him a poked out tongue.

Michelle chuckled "I'm just wondering how she is typing left handed on that tablet nearly as fast as you type with two hands on that laptop. You are both going to melt those devices."

Vicky nodded "It's that medical program you guys have on the tablet. It has all these words and abbreviations, symbols even. That's why her character count is as high as Taylor's. She taps them and the program does the longhand.

"The glomming on is new. I could never even get her to date."

Danny chuckled "For both of them. OK, let me make dinner. You two staying?"

Vicky looked at the flat screen on the wall and shuddered as it ran the MRI again with medical jargon from all kinds of different PRT doctors and Amy scrolling across the bottom of it. "Let me call mom. It's as safe here as it is anywhere with Taylor's alter ego running around loose."

Danny shook his head. He had gotten home and found an exasperated Taylor rolling her eyes at a fascinated Amy. With an amused Vicky watching. He had listened to Taylor, with commentary from Vicky, and medical babble from Amy, talk about their day which had apparently included a trip to ABB territory to check the bodies of the dead ABB parahumans.

Michelle had filled him in on the other, mostly unknown, ABB cape being apprehended, and Swordsman scaring the shit out of the Empire by appearing, like magic, near any of their members who crossed into ABB territory and poking them full of holes.

Conversely Swordsman had done the same to any ABB members who crossed the Empires borders. He wondered how long she could keep it up.

Worryingly Taylor had eaten a crate of these emergency ration bars, three thousand calories, and all the vitamins and minerals necessary for a grown man for a day apiece, and drunk three gallons of water. The PRT wanted her to keep at it until the situation with the Empire and the ABB settled.

Danny thought that service was worth a pretty penny. The PRT making a high initial offer seemed to confirm it. Now they just needed to negotiate the details. Starting with not finger printing him again before they let him through the last layer of security. The retinal scan thing wasn't bad but that ink was a bitch to get off.

Swordsman

Emily looked in the mirror slightly disgusted. None of her clothes fit anymore. Well that wasn't true. Her field uniforms fit like a glove. The field uniforms from the back of her closet from before Ellisberg with lieutenant commander rank on them. A little tight in the chest and hips.

None of her business clothes though. The PRT was paying for a new wardrobe. That crap wasn't cheap. Bra's cost a fortune. Fucking things. Not like she need one apparently though. Fucking boobs thought they were teenagers or something. Sports bra from supply and her level two body armor took care of that though. At least she wasn't endangering peoples eyes anymore.

Emily listened to the earpiece as she continued to work through trying on clothes in supply. She needed to finish with this and get back to Ops. Swordsman was out there enforcing a peace. Pax S classus Capeus. The PRT had called in everyone and things had gone really well. So far. But the Empire capes hadn't put in an appearance yet.

"Director, Ops, Doctor Poe confirms Crusader condition on Lung and Oni lee."

Emily nodded. So Glaistig Uaine all over again. "Not on Bakuda?"

Armsmaster answered "No, she states she is different though. We are through taking her statement. She has agreed to fix what she did at Cornell. If her statement is accurate we will need to prosecute several tenured professors and post graduate candidates who were teaching when she was an undergraduate."

Emily suppressed the urge to scream. Fucking people. "Let's work up the data and hand it off. New York can prosecute that crap at Cornell. We are a bit busy.

"So the assumption is Swordsman can now ramp up endlessly, and line of sight teleport."

"One instance of her is standing on a water tower at the edge of the ABB's territory and clones of her are preventing all contact between the Empire and ABB. Meanwhile the Police Department is responding to a steady stream of reports of muggers, drug dealers, prostitutes, the pimps anyway, and other criminals being detained and left to be collected.

"She apparently has a cell phone and is texting them the locations of the perpetrators, who are universally incapacitated. Through some rather precise pressure point nerve blocks mostly. The doctors who have examined the first ones apprehended think they will recover in a few hours." Armsmaster reported.

Emily nodded and adjusted the jacket over the white blouse that mostly fit, fucking boobs, she was going to have to get shirts tailored, the charcoal pencil skirt that fit very well, not an a line in the place, fucking PR, and the black, low heeled, pumps, she didn't need to be six feet tall. Good enough. Wait "Drug dealers? She has gotten involved with the Merchants territory?"

The G3 came up on the net "Only in the sense that she goes after any illegal activity. She isn't directly targeting them."

"Like she went after the ABB." Emily arched a brow.

The G2 replied "Actually, intelligence suggest the ABB went after her. Oni Lee was apparently sent hunting after several brothels were shut down and the prostitutes turned over to the police."

"I'm on my way to ops. I want to see the raw data." Emily strode off with her detail nearly trotting to keep up.

Swordsman?

"What's wrong with Dennis?" Chris asked.

Carlos opened his mouth but Dennis replied "Piggot is so fucking hot. Ultimilf."

Missy collapsed space and moved toward him, intending to slap his head off, but couldn't keep on looking at his pale skin and shaking hands. She fell over laughing.

Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose as Dean sighed. Carlos shook it off "Just watch your sectors." The Wards were on top of three different buildings 'observing'. The Protectorate was out in force patrolling.

Swordsman?

Battery smirked at Assault, who was in pretty much the same condition as Dennis, and would later be sleeping on the couch. He had stared at the Director until Battery had had to turn around to see what he was looking at. That was a spectacular ass in that skirt though. He probably only deserved one night.

Miss Militia looked at her patrol partners and sighed.

Swordsman?

Dragon, in her TinMother, PHO Super Moderator, data set blinked at the information flowing across PHO on the Brockton Bay, ABB, Lung, Oni Lee, and Bakuda pages and issued fifty three temp bans. Void Cowboy first and for longest. She watched the videos through and sorted them to the appropriate pages and moved several comments to the Vs forum, issued seventy eight warnings and nineteen infractions. She then started a Swordsman page, or rather moved several gigabits of data to her page which until now was a stub. All that done she called her friend in Brockton Bay "Colin?"

"Dragon?"

She watched the data from his suit "Am I interrupting your patrol?" She could see he was moving at moderate speed on his motorcycle.

"No. I am capable of multitasking."

Dragon kept the smirk off her projected image. Yes he was, to a limited degree. "I noticed something on PHO? Oni Lee and Lung are dead?"

"Yes. They apparently, they being the ABB, went after Swordsman. She killed them, apparently she took their powers as well. It seems to be a striker ability."

Dragon's data streams froze for a nano second "Like Glaistig Uaine?" She checked the Bauman Correctional Facility.

"Yes and no. It was first noted on Crusaders autopsy, he lacked a pollentia and gemma."

"I see, I'm looking at the report." Dragon not only read the report she reviewed the video of the autopsy.

"She doesn't call powers though, she uses them all at the same time. Lung faced off against one hundred and eight fully corporeal Swordsman clones. I actually got video and sensor readings of some of that. Oni Lee was unable to teleport clone himself rapidly enough to avoid having all of his instances killed.

"Since then she has, well her clones have, both teleported, without dying, and used both fire and brute strenght and been armored with scales, also they have displayed rapid regeneration.

"Which is odd as when she healed the Director she was invulnerable."

Dragon stifled the data skip and did a quick search to find the report on Director Piggot's healing. She blinked, or did the digital equivalent "Director Piggot is a good looking woman."

"Enhanced, taken to the maximum her genetics were capable of. It is amazing. She is not pleased. People are strange."

Dragon smiled gently, yes, they certainly were. Interesting though. "Colin you have Swordsman classed as an independent hero?"

"She has only attacked villains, outside of the attack on Crusader and Alabastor, known murderers, she has only attacked or acted on crimes in progress and when attacked."

"And Taylor Hebert?" Dragon arched a brow of her image in his HUD.

"Brute two, thinker three. Though she has no pollentia or gemma. Panacea reports her brain is different, fully utilized, and fully active. Her muscles and bones are denser than any recorded example and all of her bodily systems and organs fully optimized and operating at unheard of levels of efficiency. It is causing a lot of discussion in PRT medical and thinker circles.

"She also refuses to wear a mask. Panacea and Glory Girl are working with her PRT detail today. We brought Panacea in to get a further evaluation of Miss Hebert."

Dragon blinked "Panacea isn't out healing somewhere? I know before it was a compulsion with the girl."

"Swordsman is very efficient, and has a striker healer ability, she has visited the local hospitals ICU's, emergency rooms and long term care wards. Along with the two local hospices. She continues to do so." Colin replied in an admiring tone. "Panacea seems quite interested in her. Glory Girl as well. I will have to meet her at some point.

Dragon couldn't prevent a scowl, though she was able to change it to a neutral face quickly "I see, I will have to evaluate all the data." Dragon was amazed to find herself seething.

"I will forward you the file numbers, it is a growing list. Some of them quite detailed.

"Especially the medical reports on the Hebert girl. Who is, from all reports, very aesthetically pleasing. Her physical form is being matched by Swordsman.

"I must admit I have only looked at the summaries of the reports on Miss Hebert. Swordsman is absorbing most of my attention at the moment. She is fascinating."

"Fine!" Colin blinked at the sharp response as the connection terminated. He would have to review that communication later. Dragon seemed displeased for some reason.

Swordsman?

Jack Slash calmly pulled the RV to the side of the road, by feel, and stopped. He couldn't really see because of the actinic flash that had vaporized the truck he was following. "I'll have my eyes fixed in a few minutes Mr. Jack. Then I can fix everyone else's."

"Thank you Poppet. I think we'll head south for a while as soon as I can see." And after confirming we need two new members he didn't say, Hatchet face driving Crawlers truck might have been a bad Idea, but seriously, just crossing the US Canada border on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere was no reason for Dragon to go to a nuke pumped X ray laser. Or whatever that had been. Glad this RV couldn't go through, or over, the potholes like that haul truck did. One time Hatchet Face being Hatchet Face and single minded worked in their favor. Him getting a couple mile lead like that. Hmmm, Maybe not check, just turn around and head south. The Baja peninsula maybe. Sphere could tell them something when he could see to read the sign language again.

Swordsman?

Narwhal looked at the monitor "Feel better Dragon?"

"No."

"Want to take a shot at the RV?"

"The laser was a one shot. I'm building another one."

Narwhal sighed "Won't be ready in time will it. They will escape back into the US and we will never get permission for using that there. We just barely got permission to use it in that mined out oil sands strip mine."

"I will ask, and as proof of concept we did get Hatchet Face and Crawler."

"OK, now what exactly has your knickers in a twist Carolyn?" Dragon, aka Carolyn Richter, looked at her friend, leader of the Guild, and sighed. Narwhal shook her head "What did he do this time?" Carolyn's image on the monitor blushed. She, herself, was amazed, she hadn't meant to blush and hadn't been able to stop it. That code needed looked at.

Swordsman?

Kaiser looked out the windows of the conference room. Brad asked "When are we going to take care of this Zorro want to be?"

"Good luck with that. She fucked up Oni Lee, Lung and some Tinker we never heard of. Swarmed Lung with clones, clones who can now teleport, and grow scales. I got no intention of increasing her power set."

Kaiser turned around and looked at Rune after her comment. "So she is Glaistig Uaine?"

Rune shrugged "Near enough. I'm seventeen. I got shit to do. It doesn't matter who she is, she kills motherfuckers and takes their powers. Then mashes them together. She doesn't talk about fairies and shit. She fucking whacks people who piss her off. Don't fuck with her and she won't whack you.

"Hell she went through the Medhall clinic and cured all the experimental subjects."

Kaiser barked a laugh "Don't remind me. That set those drug studies back at least a year."

"I'll deal with her." Brad growled.

Kaiser looked at him "And when she, as Heidi so crassly pointed out, whacks you and takes your power and we have five hundred scaly murder blenders eating through the rank and file?"

"So the chinks just get to take over?"

Kreig shrugged "She is white, she stops the Asians at their borders as she stops the Empire soldiers at ours. Things will calm down, then when the PRT gets tired of spending resources protecting her, well, she can be recruited, one way or the other."

Kaiser frowned "A camp, perhaps." He thought 'fucking Gesellschaft brainwashing'. "Perhaps things will settle without that. She has in fact not interfered with our main operations."

Brad grunted "No not our, just mine!" He stormed out.

Swordsman?

Rebecca Costa Brown read the report summaries and grunted "Brockton Bay, again. Still not a real threat." This Swordsman seemed to be maintaining the status quo, aside from working over the petty criminals. She might actually be stabilizing that shit hole. And she had dealt with Lung. If she showed up for the next Endbringer she would be a real asset, provided she survived it, and could do some kind of damage to the damn thing. Or heal others who could. Ah, Simurgh was next. Yes. Wait and see.

Meanwhile what the fuck was Dragon doing? It might be time to get Bonesaw, Manton, and Shatterbird away from those idiots. Before Dragon had another tantrum and killed them. What the hell could have set her off? She would need to talk to Contessa. Why was that idiot Jack Slash going to Canada in the winter time?

Coil was probably fucked, that however would put a woman in charge. Yes, that experiment could actually work out after all. And get rid of that whining little bitch. Fucking precog, and not even that really. Glorified guess maker. Self-glorified even.

Swordsman?

Vicky looked at Amy and Taylor, who were yapping away at each other. Amy had finally let go of Taylor and they had diced into a conversation of which she caught about every third word. She was a bit amazed. Taylor managed to keep right with Amy. She looked at Danny who was looking at both girls and grinning. He glanced her direction and she shrugged a bit helplessly. Danny pulled his dad card "OK you two, Michelle will be over here before dawn and we will have to go to PT."

Taylor nodded "You should come Amy, Michelle, Sergeant Rodriguez, is teaching me self-defense, really hand to hand combat. Plus there is a Marine instructor that helps out."

Vicky gaped at her sister nodding. Amy said "Before dawn?"

Taylor looked at her dad then back at Amy "Five thirty, come by a little early and we can have a bite before we go to the gym."

"OK."

"Uh wait a minute, how are you getting here?" Vicky asked. Amy gave her a look. "Ah man!" Danny laughed and laughed.

After the Dallon's had left Danny looked at Taylor "Misery loves company?"

Taylor grinned "Distraction plan."

"Uh huh, and you think that one extra person is going to help?"

"Nah, but Vicky will be there, and Michelle won't be able to resist. She will wear herself out on the Alexandria package."

Danny laughed and laughed "Wow little owl, way to chuck your new friends sister under the bus."

"Ka kaw kaw! Call me Blue Falcon! But you won't be able to call me butt hurt." Danny rolled on the floor laughing. Taylor smirked and headed up the stairs.

Danny sobered and, chuckling, went to organize the pre workout breakfast.

Swordsman?

"Cum gargling ass bandits! Where is my motherfucking money!"

"The pushers got arrested."

Skidmark, parahuman leader of the Merchants, glared blearily at the most coherent of the normal gang members "Cock munch! I care why? My money or the fucking product! Or you pecker tracks are going to regret it!"

"Bitch get a ride running, we are going to talk to the dealers!" Squealer, the gangs tinker, nodded and rubbed a hand over her face. This was going to be interesting, especially as she was still seeing stripes from that last shit they had used. At least she could see again.

"MUSH!"

"Damn Skiddy, not so loud."

"Shut up bitch!"

Lucas watched as the 'leadership' of the gang, such as it was, got into a minor domestic. Sometimes it just wasn't worth hiding their drugs so they got clean enough to actually move.


	5. Chapter 5

Swordsman? 5

"No body. No other body, just Skidmark and what we think is Mush.

Armsmaster nodded at the squad leader turning from the smoking rubble pile. "My sensors concur. I think we have to assume Swordsman has taken Squealer for some reason."

The squad leader shuddered. It had been a running battle, or rather, a rapidly moving massacre. "The merchants are out of the picture though."

Armsmaster nodded again "Which leaves an opportunity for some new gang."

"Maybe the new gang already happened." The squad leader suggested.

Swordsman

"Are you going to wear clothes again at some point?"

"Come on dude! What the hell! It's like a cam show around here."

Lisa flipped Brian, Grue, and Alec, Regent, the bird over her shoulder as she padded into the kitchen in a cami and tiny panties. Brian snorted "Yeah, a bit, she can't get to any less clothes so she hit goal or something and will be naked next." He got up and made his way to the kitchen. He eyed Lisa at the coffee machine. Where she was making tea? "You know that makes the coffee taste like shit."

"Rinse the pot and basket before you make coffee, Duh." Lisa bent over to get a thermos.

Brian turned his head "Lisa!"

"Somebody should fuck her." Rachel, Bitch, aka Hellhound, opined as she and her dogs padded into the kitchen and rummaged in the refrigerator.

"Phhhttt. Feels like they have been for days, I'm burning up too, hence the no clothes. And I'm starving. Upside, no headache." Lisa told them.

Brian frowned "Your power acting up?"

"Acting out, liking being a slave girl, something, fucking thing." Lisa hipped Rachel away from the fridge and bent into it. Rachel barley moved and looked Lisa over closely. Very closely. Just as she went to step up to her Lisa stepped away with her hands full of, stuff.

Grue was relieved really. He didn't want to break up that fight. Or run from the fuck. Whichever. "So haven't heard from our boss?"

Lisa grinned at him, not her fox like grin, a full on happy teenager fuck you world grin. "Nope, and we won't, I don't think anyway. He is going to try Swordsman with brute force. He should be dead and his power stripped by tonight. I got him set up to lose all his resources. Though why they are going to Taylor Hebert I don't know, we will have to go see her. Since we work for her now." Brian watched her butt shake as she stirred eggs in a bowl. "Omelet?"

"Clothes before you cook?" Brian asked.

"Western. Plain for the dogs, you know what cheese does to them." Rachel ordered.

Brian gaped at the girls as Lisa nodded and wrinkled her nose. "Ham and cheese, maybe a little red onion in it for me." Regent said, backing into the kitchen controller in hand, splitting his attention between the game he was playing and Lisa.

Brian sat at the kitchen table and got a cutting board full of vegetables put in front of him, along with a knife. "We work for some normal girl then?" He got handed a knife.

"Yeah, well, we really couldn't keep on without becoming part of the collective. Swordsman watches too much TV. Of course being built like Seven of Nine could lead her that way, but Ryan did other shows. Though she is always trying to play these strong, nuanced women, Swordsman is very much not nuanced. Resistance is futile. Not really normal either."

"So can I be Harry Kim?" Alec waggled his eyebrows.

"Red shirt." The others looked at Rachel after her comment.

Brian recovered first "So we are out of a job and I won't get any help with my deal."

Lisa swung by and picked up the vegetables he had chopped, the other three's eyes followed her chest in the thin, nearly transparent, cami. She grinned "Yes but no. You weren't going to get any help anyway. Our boss is a fuck. Coil. He is in her way and, well, he thinks he is all that.

"He was just stringing you along. Held a gun to my head, gave Rachel money for her dogs, hid Alec from his dad. He has some kind of thinker ability, or control of outcomes. I hadn't quite figured it out. Doesn't matter anymore. No matter what he does he won't be able to beat hundreds of Swordsmen.

"I can get you a good legal team now though. Rachel too, her whole thing is bullshit. Alec, well if your old man or siblings come around they are going to wish they hadn't. That may still not save them. It definitely won't if she decides the collective needs them.

"Villains, Taylor has a pretty strong moral code. It comes across to Swordsman."

Brian blinked "So Swordsman is the boss but Taylor Hebert is her boss?"

"Yes, no? Sort of?" Lisa slid an omelet onto a plate and put it in front of Brian, then she flipped three into the dogs bowls as Brian was frozen thinking. He watched her butt shake as she whipped more eggs. Alec nudged him and waggled his eyebrows some more.

Lisa snorted "Easy there Jean-Paul. If I'm going to do anyone here it isn't going to be you. Looking is fine but I will shoot you, in the dick. Taylor Hebert is her, pattern maybe? Interesting to see what happens if those two ever get in the same place, Will Swordsman be like sucked into her or what? Intersting as in on video, or from a really long distance away."

"Hey!" Alec, Jean-Paul protested.

Lisa gave him a look over her shoulder then turned back to the three skillets she had working and kept talking "Your shit too. Daddy is the master after all. Any lawyer should be able to break that case up. If I could night school a degree I could do it.

"Oh, we really want to keep Heartbreaker away from Swordsman. She already has enough master. No telling what she could do with a boost there. Maybe even take over from Taylor. Who Mr. Smartass says is a nice girl. And is sort of the cork in the Swordsman genie bottle."

Brian sighed and as Lisa passed out the other omelets and sat he said "Look, maybe I'm slow or something, but you better start at the beginning."

Lisa shrugged "After breakfast. I'll need clothes for that. I'm cooling off a little now that Swordsman isn't using Data Dummy for mining the internet and everything else. You guys will need to pay attention, it's complicated, already got a brand new case study number from the PRT and they don't know half of what I know. They aren't inside."

She looked at the boys sitting with their forks frozen halfway to their mouths "No, not mastered, well, not really. My power just decided to work for Administrator. That's Taylor's main power, that's what Swordsman is."

Brian took the bite on his fork and chewed. He swallowed "So it's a projection."

Lisa shook her head "No it's a power, a beyond S class power. Its job is to administrate and coordinate other powers. It was never supposed to leave what gives us all powers. Think of it as the system administrator of all of our operating systems. Scion level. Maybe his, which might be why he is a retard.

"Anyway, it somehow got out in the world and got hooked to a pretty bright host. Who has been really badly treated by her peers and had a lot of bad shit happen in the last few years.

"It didn't have other powers but used her morals and memories, maybe fantasies, and started sort of trumping powers in its range. Tinkers, breakers, skill thief's, so trumps. Then it went after the person who killed its host's mother.

"Powers have limits, like the Manton limits, at least most of the time, something went wrong, or right for the first time, with this power when it triggered, and it didn't connect in the normal way, pollentia and gemma, it connected much more thoroughly and without limits.

"I think its afraid it will hurt its host if it joins her in the normal way as it has absolutely no limits. Its sort of feeling its way and now has another power of its level to ask questions of. Panacea.

"We got lucky I think. I mean she didn't just kill us all and take our powers."

Brian nodded "So, too much time on the tin foil hat sections of the forums then."

Lisa chuckled ruefully "If only. I've seen the MRI Panacea talked her into. It has layers. Taylor's brain, then a layer of something like a gemma and finally a layer of something like a pollentia. On every cell. Data Dummy hid in the corner for a while after that.

"It's a brand new power hooked to its host in a brand new way."

"A puppy. So it needs training. Hebert does too, so she knows what it can do and how to make it do it. Obedience school."

Lisa beamed at Rachel "Yes! See Rachel gets it. You know that might be the way. And we can get an in that way, or I can, you too Rachel. We'll figure the lawyer shit out then meet Taylor."

Brian covered his face with both hands. Alec shrugged "I'll go to class with her if she looks like Swordsman."

Lisa looked at him and laughed. He pouted at her.

Brian sighed "And how are we supposed to get to her in the middle of a military base?"

Lisa shrugged "Working on it."

Alec looked at the lower right corner of the screen from his seat facing the double door opening into the kitchen area "One question. Why are we all up at five o'clock in the morning? I mean I know I got to stomping people and didn't want to give up the groove, but you guys?"

Swordsman?

"GAH!" Taylor rolled off the bed. Amy grabbed her wrist. "Amy! What the hell? Why did I wake up with you in my face?"

"Thought so."

"Thought whmmph." Taylor spit the inch square, quarter inch thick, tablet Amy had popped in her mouth as she was talking back out into her hand "What the fuck? Chalk?"

"Glucose, we are going to have to carbo load the fuck out of you today if you are going to be peace enforcing on the empire and ABB and smashing the merchants to pieces, or your dark side is, whatever. You can chew that. It's a glucose tablet, I got lots, well Mary had lots, and she's the squad's combat lifesaver."

"What is even happening?"

"PT you said?"

"I need tea."

"OK. Lots of honey."

"Uh, can you let me up?" Amy looked at how she was lying on Taylor's bed, well her hips were, her upper body was being held up on one hand, over Taylor, while the other was gripping Taylor's wrist.

Swordsman?

Danny looked at the ceiling then at the mostly sleepwalking blond "Busy night?"

Vicky pointed at the small flat screen on the wall in the kitchen. Danny turned it on. He turned it to channel five and Good Morning Brockton.

He watched as he set cut up fruit, coffee carafe, and tea pot, on the table. "So yes, busy night. Skidmark and Mush?"

Vicky nodded "Squealer got taken and then hundreds of drug addicts got healed up and their physical addictions broken.

"The thought is that because Swordsman took out all the illegal drug dealers and their stashes. Some of the legal ones too, a couple of pill mill doctors anyway, they mostly won't go back to using if the cops stay on top of the drug trade. We, New Wave, was on standby. Makes sleep hard.

"Ames wanted to get here at five because she thought Taylor would be running on empty."

Amy walked in as Danny heard the shower running "And she was, low glucose night sweats and all. We will have to carbo load her."

Danny nodded and got up getting a bowl of pasta out of the fridge and putting it in the microwave, setting butter, and a bowl of grated, real, parmesan, cheese on the table. Amy nodded "that'll do for now." Danny nodded still glued to the news.

"So she just took Squealer?" He asked.

Vicky nodded "Which has people kind of worried since she takes powers from the ones she kills. What is she going to do to a tinker she kept."

Danny blinked and looked around at her. He saw Amy rolling her eyes and arched a brow. Vicky shrugged. Amy sighed "I told you, I think she just cleaned her up and put her to sleep. Not sure where. Armsmaster just has his shorts in a knot over it. She'll be fine."

Danny arched a brow, Amy shrugged "Dreams. Yes I know, but I never dream, or at least I don't remember them. My power was partying, or something, all night though. Had me up eating like Taylor does a couple of times."

Swordsman?

Emily arrived, logged in, and blinked. She started reading. Today's messages were prioritized summaries with the backup data linked. It was standard procedure. She could count the number of times this directorate had used it on one hand though. Some directorates never did. Lucky bastards.

So, the night started fine, Swordsman being Batman on her water tower. A few desultory engagements with ABB and Empire. Then the idiots woke up, got high, and bold, and poof no more idiots.

She winced "Two more bodies. Damn it." Self-defense, legal had already weighed in. Plenty of video evidence. Uber and Leet had live streamed pretty much everything. Backed up by network and cable news.

Those drug labs getting incinerated though, those clones were Lunging the fuck out of everything. How did she know about those allegedly legitimate doctors?

Emily looked at the email form Armsmaster and sighed. Of course it was a tinker so he was tunnel visioning on that. He had a point, Tinkers could be dangerous, but the woman would take a week to dry out, if drying her out didn't kill her.

Then she would need a month to get tools and a workshop together, then they would see what her latest hillbilly technical looked like.

So Swordsman was still on the side of good, they probably wouldn't see her true nature until the gang idiots quit giving her acceptable targets.

Emily drummed her fingers. And switched to Rodriguez email. Hebert still quiet. How the fuck was this even happening. It had to be a projection.

She called up the high resolution MRI, the scientist had to be missing something. But Panacea missing it? That wasn't possible, at least from what they knew. Of course Panacea was spending all her time with Hebert, and she had a lot of time with Swordsman clones just healing people on the street.

How the fuck was she billing all of this? Emily sent a query.

Swordsman?

Brian watched Lisa, in a short skirt, t shirt and flip flops, on the couch trashing a brand new laptop as she told the story of Swordsman in chronological order. He nodded when she stopped talking "What are you doing?"

"Catching up on billing. Data Dummy is the Swordsman medical office staff." Lisa shrugged "Going to have to get her to upgrade me though. My hands and arms get-"

The Undersides froze as the clone appeared and put a hand on her. Lisa moaned, then grinned "Thanks boss!"

Brian ducked as a hand landed on him and then sighed as the nagging pain from where Shadow Stalker had put that arrow in him went away. He snapped his head around as Rachel said "Thanks." and saw her examining the healed Angelica, the little white dog looking puzzled over having two eyes again. Rachel grunted as the clone lifted its other hand from her and disappeared.

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose "What the fuck?"

Swordsman?

Colin looked at the clock in the lower right corner of his monitor and closed the windows he had open. The heat map and the twenty two warrant request. He rose, put his helmet on, got his HUD up and strode out of his lab locking the door.

Dragon appeared in the window she normally used in his HUD "Hippa data, you won't get most of those warrants."

Colin nodded as he rode down to the garage "Hence the number of them. I have localized the activity to servers serving the docks area, a odd place for medical billing to be coming from. It could be a diversion, a remote setup on a closed back end."

the image of Dragon frowned "Possibly. Any progress on Squealer?"

"No, I intend to go to Swordsman and talk to her about it after the meeting."

Dragon frowned "I'll send a suit to go with you. Perhaps Miss Militia could come along."

Colin paused "Thank you. I know that I sometimes don't do well with initial contacts." Dragon smiled. Then he ruined it "And I want to do well with this contact, she is fascinating."

Swordsman?

Jack Slash accelerated to keep up with the group of vehicles, then slipped in between two school busses. Shatter bird arched a brow "This will slow us considerably."

Jack nodded "Just a feeling."

Shatterbird looked at the navigation device Sphere had built "You have this thing giving a route that keeps us around people, completely the opposite of our normal method."

Jack nodded "Better cover." Shatterbird frowned but subsided.

Swordsman?

Narwhal looked at the monitor "New remote?" She smiled, it was the most human looking suit yet. "Very nice. I like that you didn't go with a boob plate, that swell in the chest plate is obviously for a female though." She frowned "Was that New York it just passed?"

"Braking now, I'm going to Brockton to help Armsmaster make contact with Swordsman."

Narwhal nodded "Coming in out of the rising sun. Classic."


	6. Chapter 6

Swordsman? 6

Emily looked at her staff, including the Protectorate Brockton Bay leadership this morning. She turned to the assembled people after all the briefings and shook her head "So we have no idea, it could be an entirely new type trigger, or a wildly powerful master with a projection, or another cape entirely using a teenage girl. Two, if we include what is going on with Panacea.

Armsmaster was very still for a moment then nodded once "More observation and testing is needed."

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose "And what so we do about Crusader being killed in front of everyone?"

Her lead counsel shrugged "The State and US Prosecutor seem to be headed toward it being the artifact of a trigger. Plus they have a lot piling up on their plates suddenly, as do we actually. Someone hired Quinn Calle's firm to look at Hellhounds case. The discovery is very pointed. We may be in trouble. That's on top of Shadow Stalkers case, which we are very definitely in trouble over.

"Additionally Crusader was a known murderer and the vigilante act applied. There is a case to be made that, as he was popping clones, using a monomolecular edged weapon at close quarters was not excessive force."

Emily looked at the video monitor and arched a brow. Rebecca Costa Brown had the decency to look apologetic. "I will send you some help Director Piggot."

Legend in another teleconference window nodded "As soon as we are finished here I will be joining Armsmaster to talk to Swordsman."

Emily tried again "Which, as we don't know her range for powers theft, is an extraordinarily bad idea, and again I must protest."

Rebecca's face adopted a firm mien "We have to talk to her. She is essentially doing whatever she wants."

"We have not yet exhausted all means of developing data about her, as procedure calls for." Emily replied.

Rebecca nodded "Agreed, however, at the rate she is going She will have more powers than Glaistig by the end of the week. I think a deviation, or at least a speeding up, of the process is called for."

Emily drummed her fingers. She found herself in an odd position. Swordsman was, so far, very much on the side of the angels, and she was very effective at trimming the gangs in Brockton, or in some cases eliminating their parahuman support entirely. That she then took up their banners while limiting, or even eliminating their illegal activities, those that directly harmed people anyway, was a bit vexing.

The brothels had been closed, both sides, the dog fighting stopped cold, the drug labs smashed. Protection rackets hadn't been touched yet but she had a theory and if she got Rodriguez to drop a suggestion and a couple of research articles to Miss Hebert she had a feeling that would be the next target of the clones.

If that worked she had a litany of crimes for Swordsman. "Armsmaster, you and Militia are to make your excuses and withdraw immediately if Swordsman even appears uncomfortable. You will also leave your communications on. I will be in Ops monitoring."

Swordsman?

Dragon lowered herself on thrusters to stand beside Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Legend. "Slow approach rather than a blitz?"

Legend looked at her "Yes, Swordsman isn't an enemy."

The remote nodded "Something I realized as I came in to Brockton Bay from over the ocean."

Miss Militia pointed out "She did attack a ward."

Legend frowned and nodded "Though with copious justification as it turns out, and amidst a trigger event."

"We believe." Dragon added, just managing to change from 'allegedly'.

They all stilled when a Clone appeared on the roof with them "Coherent Light, Efficiency and Miniaturization, Digital Intelligence, Weapon Manifestation."

Legend blinked "Uh."

"I am Administrator."

"You can sense our abilities?" Miss Militia asked. Her pistol changing to different weapons more and more rapidly.

They all watched as the sheathed rapier did the same thing "Yes, I am Administrator."

Legend cleared his throat "We have names we go by when we are in our cape personas."

"Hey!"

They all turned to look at the girl in the skintight black and purple body suit and domino mask as she climbed over the edge of the building up the fire escape. "Inference Engine." The clone arched a brow at the girl.

"Tattletale." Armsmaster supplied for Legend.

Tattletale tossed him a grin "Administrator doesn't get people really well. She has powers down pat. Thought I could translate. While we wait on Taylor."

Swordsman tilted her head thoughtfully "The host, to interact with other host, while I interact with the 'powers' this is an acceptable plan."

Dragon nodded "Perhaps we could move off this rooftop?"

"This clone will accompany you, I need to be here to observe the territorial integrity of the main opposing parties. They have yet to adjust to the new reality."

Lisa held her arms up and herded them all toward the fire escape. "Empty apartment down one floor."

Swordsman?

In ops Emily was arguing with Rebecca "This is a spectacularly bad idea. We have no idea what will happen if we expose them to each other. Sergeant Rodriguez reports Hebert's powers have increased an order of magnitude overnight."

Rebecca nodded "The think tank reports that is Panacea. She is adjusting the girl."

"And Sergeant Rodriguez reports she is not and is endlessly fascinated by whatever is happening to the girl. This is an idea from a known villain."

"Who is working with Swordsman according to the thinkers."

Emily gaped "Oh, mastered, that makes it so much better."

"It's a risk I am willing to take."

"You won't have two of your capes in a room that could be so packed full of S class clones that they couldn't move in the blink of an eye."

"No, just a member of the Triumvirate and the second in command of the Guild. It's a risk we need to take Emily."

"If anything goes wrong we are going to be crucified."

Swordsman?

Taylor blinked "Uh, really? Why the change. I thought we were keeping me away from her."

"No idea and it makes me nervous." Michelle replied.

Taylor snorted "So I should be a jibbering wreck then?"

Amy frowned "I'm coming with."

"Me too." Vicky put in. Michelle shrugged.

Swordsman?

Emily blinked at the reports. She could actually feel her career stepping further out on the limb.

Swordsman?

Taylor stepped into the living room of a nice post war three bedroom apartment and froze looking at herself. All of the Protectorate capes and Dragon blinked and the clone stuttered and the observers reported Swordsman blinked and reappeared.

"Host."

"Taylor."

"Administrator."

Armsmaster subvocalized "The Clone disappeared."

Swordsman?

Coil recoiled, he immediately snapped another time line open and recoiled again. He snapped open another and made for the secret exit of the base, obviously something had gotten into the base.

In the PRT Calvert recoiled and snapped open another time line. He headed for the garage and his car, he left the second timeline running with him sitting in his office. His steps slowed, how was that possible? He had been in the base. He shouldn't have been able to open another time line. Unless, damn it, both his timelines were being hunted. He turned the corner and walked right into Swordsman.

Emily looked up as the alarms came on. "Ops?"

"Swordsman clones in the PRT and now the Rig."

Emily grunted "Healing who?"

A clone appeared and an operations sergeant slumped in his seat. The clone disappeared. Emily took off the head phones and walked to the Sergeant. She checked his pulse. "Alive, unconscious."

The operations officer nodded "Nine cases of the same thing all over the base."

Emily walked back to her position and put the headphones back on. She listened to the reports as three personnel were reported unconscious on the rig. "Full check on everyone that's unconscious, get them in Master and Stranger confinement."

Swordsman?

Armsmaster cleared his throat attracting everyone's attention minus Amy, who had one hand on Taylor and one on Swordsman. "Swordsman, what are your clones doing?"

"Removing those influenced by Limited Simulation. And Limited Simulation. It has displayed hostile intent toward Administrator. It must be checked."

Taylor blinked "What happens if you remove a parahumans power? Can you even do that?"

Administrator grinned at her "Yes."

Coil fell to the floor of the tunnel and arched into a bow, unable to even scream the pain was so intense. Thomas Calvert arched the same way in a M/S confinement cell.

"Without killing them?"

The grin morphed into a smirk "More difficult, but a useful lesson."

Thomas Calvert broke bones in both timelines, different bones in each. Finally a timeline sort of popped, and he was left in the M/S cell collapsed, barely breathing.

"This is potentially useful, though severely limited. Conflict Engine Three is much more capable." Administrator announced.

Legend sighed "Perhaps, if we slowed down and talked?"

"Ah, accurate, however limited." Taylor poked Administrator with an elbow. The others watched wide eyed.

Lisa smiled and opened up her back pack, black with purple highlights. She produced a laptop, then a small projector. She looked around, "Or I can just send it to you and Dragon Armsmaster? I can do a wireless local network with this computer."

"What, exactly, is 'it'?" Dragon asked. While smiling inside, she would dump that whole computer as soon as it connected.

"A pretty big data dump. It covers Coil's, Thomas Calvert's, activities going back to his first days in the PRT. Administrator has been a little unhappy with him for a while and had me digging into him. I was happy to as he held a gun to my head and made me work for him. He promised the other Undersiders things. None of us actually wanted to be there and we have tried to do as little harm as possible but he has been ramping up.

"Administrator taking Lung out is probably the only reason we hadn't been sent against the ABB in a bigger way." Lisa explained.

Dragon and Armsmaster said "Send the data." simultaneously. Lisa started working and still set up the projector. She smirked when it came on and projected on the wall "So it all begins at the start of the PRT really."

For the next hour Lisa held them pretty much spellbound with a briefing. So much so that everyone looked around startled at Vicky's "Fuck me Ames! How did you do that?"

Amy and Taylor were smirking, as were Administrator and the new copy of Amy who introduced herself "Shaper." Shaper was dressed in the same shirt, tights, boots outfit as Administrator.

Legend face palmed "Alexandria is going to lose her shit."

Miss Militia was frozen, Dragon and Armsmaster were running every scan possible with their onboard sensors. Amy was holding her own hands and giggling. Taylor reached over and took one of her hands "Hey."

Both Amy's rolled their eyes and beamed at her. Administrator looked at Shaper who blushed and smiled. Vicky sighed "Fuck me." Again.

Michelle stepped into the room "Well, I hope you all like it here because the Chief Director just quarantined the building."

Lisa grinned "Cool, Taylor owns it anyway, it was part of Lungs stuff. He had just had it remodeled. Well, reconditioned really, maybe some new cabinets, counter tops, and appliances, but it's all empty apartments. Plenty to go around.

"Bullet proof glass laminates and pretty good doors on the entrances. Blast proof to a pretty high level. Bit of a fortress really. It was already granite block down on those floors anyway. He got a great deal on it. Legitimate purchase, well aside from how the money was made."

Everyone turned to Lisa who pulled the laptop to her "Different briefing, hold on a second. ABB assets, no that's Coils stuff, OK, here we go." Everyone looked at the list.

Armsmaster paused then asked "And Coils assets." Lisa put them up in a split screen. Armsmaster nodded "Some efficiencies could be achieved here."

Dragon nodded "Some synergy too."

Miss Militia blinked "She can only keep fifteen percent."

Legend held his hands out as Administrator and Shaper's heads turned to Miss Militia "I'm sure we can work something out."

Lisa shrugged "They deeded, or gifted, it all to Taylor before they were killed or captured so it isn't subject to the vigilante act distributions anyhow."

Legend arched a brow. Lisa grinned "Trust me, the government will never be able to prove different."

Legend sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "Your last hurrah as a villain?"

"Phhtttt, I been working for her," She jerked a thumb at Administrator, "Since she appeared. Or my power has. My last hurrah as a villain was days ago."

Taylor frowned "Speaking of villains, what happened to Sophia Hess?"

Miss Militia winced. Armsmaster said "She is being prosecuted on multiple counts up to and including attempted murder. So are a surprisingly large number of the students and faculty of Winslow. The prosecutors will be busy for years."

Dragon asked "What happened to you Taylor? Not to be rude but you look nothing like the Taylor Hebert of a month ago."

Taylor chuckled "Of a week ago even."

Administrator answered "The host has been physically optimized, when that is complete, she will be mentally optimized. There are several shards in the area suited to that purpose. They will be coopted, or acquired if they refuse to cooperate. Resistance is futile."

"Oh my god! You are where those dreams are coming from. I am not wearing that cat suit."

"It is a functional and efficient garment. There are several shards in the area who have knowledge of materials. It can be made to withstand a variety of environments. The host must be protected."

Taylor scowled "It's like being naked! How am I supposed to wear underwear under that?"

"Underwear is superfluous, the deficiencies of your body have been corrected."

Taylor squawked; Amy brightened "So that's what all that is!"

Taylor looked at her with big round eyes "What?"

Amy poked her "Coopers ligaments, other stuff, we talked about all this." She looked Taylor up and down grinning.

Michelle Rodriguez laughed "OK, let's take a break and let these four have a discussion. We can look at the other apartments on this floor."

The adults bolted looking at the glares Taylor was passing out.

Dragon looked at Armsmaster in the hall "Uber."

Armsmaster nodded "Victor."

Legend shrugged "Tattletale seems a likely candidate to assist, or coordinate, it all."

Miss Militia added "And is already part of the collective. Seriously, no one is getting the references? It thinks it's a Borg Queen."

Legend leaned against the wall "It, she, kind of is? And this is a friendly S class threat."

Dragon shrugged "Two of them. Notice everyone had two names for their power other than Shaper and Administrator."

The group looked at each other. Dragon offered diffidently "We should ask what some other powers are called, some we class as S."

Michelle appeared around the corner ahead "The Directors would like to speak to you. We have a secure conferencing suite set up in the last apartment here." The group followed her.

Swordsman?

Lisa looked around at the other girls then she shrugged and took off her mask "Can't beat em, join em. Taylor, babe, you have nothing to worry about, hubba hubba. Well I take it back, how are your self-defense skills? You are going to need them girl."

"I will drop them all." Amy shrugged. Taylor pounced on her. Vicky face palmed. Administrator and Shaper watched interestedly. Lisa laughed until she snorted.

Swordsman?

Danny looked at the lieutenant "Well Eric, none of them disappeared into the other."

Eric gave him a look "No, an extra Panacea just popped up."

Danny shrugged "Can there ever really be extra panacea?" Eric groaned as Danny grinned.

Swordsman?

Emily Piggot looked at the monitor, then at the briefing that was playing, Armsmaster had recorded Tattletale's briefing because, Armsmaster. And he had the facility to play it back as a holograph because, well, Armsmaster. She settled back and took the cup of ops room coffee someone handed her, black one sugar, nearly pure acid. The good stuff. Damn it! Now she owed Swordsman! A week ago this would have killed her, fucking tea! Well, she never had to drink that shit again!

Rebecca watched the briefing in her monitor pane.

When it was done Emily looked up "Suggestions?"

Legend smiled "Leave it for now, nobody disappeared. Get a medical team up here to check everyone. Get Mr. Hebert and New Wave over here. See how the kids explain it to them."

Rebecca nodded "That's a good idea. Meanwhile we can take Mr. Calvert apart and check these facts. Then we can send him to the birdcage."

Emily grinned, then sighed "Swordsman took his powers."

Rebecca grinned back "But is that permanent?"

Sergeant Rodriguez stuck her head in the apartment "The Undersiders just came up. They must have been in the building."

Emily growled "Fucking thinkers!" Everyone nodded.

Swordsman?

Brian knocked on the apartment door and then sighed when it was yanked open. "At least you have boy shorts on."

Shaper was suddenly beside Lisa and had a hand on her. Amy walked up and lay a hand on her too. "Yeow, no wonder you are stripping. We could cook on you. Why aren't you sweating? OK, we can work on this." She drug Lisa away talking to Shaper. While Lisa gave Brian a beseeching look.

He was looking at Taylor. Rachel brushed past him with the dogs. She walked up to Taylor and then leaned back "Claimed."

"What?" Taylor blinked finally. Amy blushed.

"Goddamn it. Well the good ones always get taken fast. I guess the other one is the dark side Amy's?" Alec announced. Then wandered to the couch and made himself comfortable.

Vicky looked at the new comers "No mask Undersiders?"

Brian shrugged "It only really matters for me I guess, and we work for light side Taylor now, so we are going straight?

"We'll still wear them in public I guess, but in the base it's a pain."

Alec spoke up "Which thanks boss, nice base. The nicest yet, my own apartment, got to like that."

Taylor sat in a love seat "What?"

Lisa hissed "Still catching up, give it a day or so." at Alec.

"A day! I'm not going to be a supervillain with a villain team!"

"Leader, hero team." Rachel supplied with a shrug. "Got a building for dogs' boss?"

Lisa, still trapped and being used as a demonstrator waved "A couple, we can check them out later. The gym too, oh and the pool! You will like it Taylor. This was supposed to be clan leaders housing for the ABB. It's pretty posh.

"This is housing though. We have Coils bond villain base for a base. Oh! I need to send those mercenaries some orders, Brian hand me the laptop will you?

"Should we get the PRT to run through the base? We'd make jillions of brownie points for that." Lisa looked at Taylor who leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "OK, let me make that happen then."

Mary had to step out for a minute. Taylor was so lost. It was hilarious. Poor kid. She settled the M240L across her chest and looked at her assistant gunner "Watch the door Clark, let me talk to the boss."

Clark nodded and settled his huge frame on the wall checking his foam sprayer nozzle was clear of pistol, spare barrel, M240 ammo box carriers, and all the other things he carried. Most of the pair's equipment. Mary carried the 240 and four hundred rounds, along with the machinegun optic and the thermal sight. It was the light duty/CQC load out so she wasn't wearing the extended ammo pack and chute. And he wasn't having to carry the tripod and QE mechanism.

Down the hall and around the corner in the other apartment Michelle chuckled ruefully after listening on the squad net "Well Taylors team got here and are doing team bonding things. Apparently freaking Taylor out. Tattletale is running Coils stuff."

"That could be bad. Team dynamics are difficult." Everyone turned to look at Armsmaster after his comment.

Michele waved him off "I'll go help her in a minute. You guys can't go, Militia could, Dragon too, but Tattletale came out of her suit. She was apparently burning up. Powers. Amy and Shaper are adjusting her. I'll talk to Taylor and we can get Tattletale back in her suit. I'll call you Armsmaster. Oh, Tattletale is apparently sending out orders so we can check Coils bases, probably want to get some Capes ready for that."

Legend nodded "Good idea. This lets us try to get clarification on the PRT and Protectorates position on the Undersiders and Coils mercenaries as well."

Swordsman?

Brad looked at the Empire soldiers and smiled. All the little fuckers in one place. Now just wait on the Protectorate to leave and he could put a stop to this bullshit.


	7. Chapter 7

Swordsman? 7

Max Anders picked up the cell phone "Kaiser. What? I'll be right there." He left his office and got into his private elevator. Nessa and Jessica left their desk in the outer office and followed him. He looked at the two blonds. Perhaps the only people in the organization with the sense god gave a goose.

He arrived in the sub subbasement and stood staring at Rune pelting Cricket with objects and debris "Run to Daddy! That isn't going to help you! Bitch better have my money!" A slab of what appeared to be sidewalk detonated against the wall after Cricket ducked.

Max sighed. What, just what? "Stop!" Rune spun around on the manhole cover she was riding. "What is going on here?"

"Fucking Hookwolf is going after Swordsman. He found where she is staying. Right now he is waiting on the Protectorate, including fucking Legend by the way, to leave, before he attacks.

"Cricket's stupid ass, along with that retard Storm Tiger, is going with him. Cricket owes me a hundred bucks. I want my money before she gets turned into a zombie, or killed."

Max pinched the bridge of his nose. Wait a minute "Legend?"

Rune nodded "I was doing recon, watching Swordsman doing her Batman thing on that building. Legend showed on a different building with Miss Militia, Armsmaster, and Dragon. Swordsman had a clone go talk to them, then they went inside that building the ABB did all the work on."

"So Legend and Dragon." Max looked at Cricket.

Rune nodded "Meanwhile, Swordsman did something to a bunch of PRT people, two I could see, and the rest ran around like chickens for a minute, and then one of her clones went roof jumping carrying a guy in a snake suit, who disappeared after about two jumps. No idea where she came from, somewhere in our territory."

Max turned to Nessa "Go get all the Empire leaders, get them to the theater. Jessica get all the capes. Including Hookwolf. Rune you go with Nessa, Cricket help Jessica."

The women stood looking at him, he sighed "She took out the ABB and Merchant parahumans, that 'guy in the snake suit' was probably Coil. If she came from our territory she was coming from his. Unless she decides to go after New Wave we are probably next."

Rune grunted "Told people to leave the bitch alone."

Max nodded "For at least a week." He mumbled while thinking furiously. Rune, Nessa, Jessica, and Cricket glared at him. He got back in the private elevator. He would have to thank old man Schmidt on the loading docks for that phone call. Man had been a loyal employee since Allfather first turned a smuggling organization legitimate.

Jessica looked at the others after the doors of the elevator closed "Might be?"

Rune looked thoughtful then shrugged "Doesn't matter, she knows how to take powers now. Poke her and get your shit ripped, hormonal or not."

Swordsman?

Danny looked at his watch, meh, he could leave a little early, and he wanted to see this apartment building of Taylors. "Let's go Eric."

Swordsman?

Sarah Pelham looked at her sister Carol Dallon "Do not chop up Taylors building like you did your house."

Mark snickered "Yeah, we'll invite her over and you can do that other ugly armchair."

Carol glared at him "Were you better when you were depressed?"

"Want to go find out, again?" Mark shook his hips. Carol pivoted and went out the door.

Crystal Pelham, Laser Dream looked at her mother "I threw up a little in my mouth." Neil laughed and escorted them all out to the white suburban.

"They were always like this. Who do you think named your Uncle "Flash Bang."

"Oh. My. God. It just keeps getting worse." Sarah really tried not to laugh. Eric Pelham, Shielder, had to drive though. His mom couldn't see as the New Wave show had her in tears. Neil wasn't much better off. They were happy though. Mark was back in a big way. He was where Vicky had gotten most of her loud mischievous personality. It really was odd Carol had ended up married to him. Crystal just hoped they got it out of their system before they got back in public. All of them. "Mother! Really!" She huffed when that set her mother and Aunt Carol off laughing. Which made her father and Uncle Mark laugh. It was mortifying.

Swordsman?

"Hey LT. We are just waiting on New Wave. If you want to wait in the lobby?"

Danny followed Eric "Uh, not to be nosy, but why does that woman have that big ass gun? The guy with her could carry it easier?"

"Shortest person in the squad gets the machine gun. In case of ambush. The big guy is her assistant gunner, read pack mule." Eric said. Danny shrugged. They watched through the windows as the white suburban pulled up and then as nothing happened for a couple minutes.

Finally the doors opened and New Wave got out. The older parahumans were pretty red faced. The older teen girl in the lead had her nose pretty far up in the air. Danny got introduced and eyed Mark and Carol. He knew Mark Dallon had had some kind of problem, health wise, in recent years. He looked pretty healthy now. "Swordsman?"

It broke the ice and Danny heard the short version on the elevator up. He nodded "Yeah, Taylor gets all these looks from people. I don't think she can ever wear a peasant blouse and yoga pants again, especially not with boots."

Mary smiled "Swordsman is trying to make her wear a cat suit like Seven of Nine or T'Pol." Danny sighed. Mary laughed "Yeah, that's what Taylor thinks too."

Eric Pelham looked at Mary "OK so why do you have the biggest gun?"

"Lowest to the ground." Mary shrugged. Eric frowned.

Danny smiled "OK, I get it now. Quickest out of the line of fire."

Mary smiled as did the Lieutenant. They were led to a door and Danny lifted his hand to knock, it was jerked open and not Taylor leapt on him "Father!" The two went down in a pile.

Crystal tilted her head "So she is always grabby?"

Another Taylor stepped up and rolled her eyes "Taylor!"

Danny looked up "What?"

"Genetic exact duplicate. Surprise, its twins!" Taylor did jazz hands. Then grinned.

Danny let his head fall back "Holy moly." He smiled though. He had seen that look on her last before Annette's accident.

Mark looked up in time to get leapt on as Amy, the Amys', weren't going to be left out. Carol looked between Zorro Amy, sitting on Mark, and casual Amy "What the actual fuck?"

Vicky's head came around the door frame "Mother!"

Crystal looked at her cousin "You have no idea, wait until you hear how Flash Bang got his name."

Neil lost it. He slid down the wall holding his ribs and howling.

Swordsman?

Emily looked at Rebecca Costa Brown in the monitor, they were watching over body cams supplemented by the cameras in Armsmaster and Dragons armor "You know, that may be the first time I ever agreed unreservedly with Carol Dallon."

Swordsman?

Hookwolf looked at Cricket "What? Now? He calls a meeting now? When all we have to do is wait until the Protectorate leaves and we have all the thorns in our side right here! We can push a bulge in the ABB line, Surround that block, and kill them all!

"I don't need him. Pass the word, anyone that leaves the line is my enemy." Storm Tiger nodded firmly.

Cricket wasn't so sure. In fact, she wasn't sure at all. Sure, she could kick ass, but this freaking thing was an S class threat. Their spies in the PRT confirmed it. Like they needed that after it killed Lung. Jack Slash was bound to be running in this direction by now. The Teeth, Accord, The Elite, who knew what fucker with what powers and a death wish. It might not actually be a good time to cause a schism.

She lifted her device to her throat "It might be a bad time to break up the Empire." She explained her reasoning in her labored mechanical voice.

Hookwolf glared at her "Fuck!" He shredded the corner of the building he was standing next to. "You are getting all those scars and shit fixed. I want you in top form when we take over." Cricket blinked. When they did what?

Jessica Biermann walked up "I have the lieutenants."

Hookwolf growled "Let's go."

Swordsman?

Lisa turned from the window with a smile on her face. She caught Brian looking at her. He arched a brow "The Empire called a leadership meeting." She shrugged.

Alec spoke up from the sofa, they were still waiting on the mess in the hall and entry hall of the apartment to sort itself out. It was going to be a long night. Lisa had already made a couple of calls to some caterers and a few restaurants. She had name dropped all the senior capes present to not much effect. Saying Swordsman got the trucks rolling though. "So we still have to watch out for those fucks for another day?"

Lisa looked out the window again then turned back "Depends on how ignorant, hmm, overconfident maybe, Hookwolf really is."

Swordsman?

Carolyn, Dragon, was pouting. And she couldn't understand why. Or how really. Armsmaster was deferent to her amidst the married couples. Amazed as she, they all really, were of how accepting Danny Hebert was, excited and protective even. That had taken about ten seconds. Legend had mentioned something about Coil and the ABBs assets and Danny had jumped right in, having Lisa show him on her laptop and delaying any answers until they had a chance, they, including him, had a chance to discuss it privately.

Mark Dallon was no better. Or was as good, something. He had leaped right in there and drug Carol in on Shapers behalf.

Colin wasn't paying undue attention to either Administrator or Shaper, though she could nearly feel his desire to get them in a testing environment. His sensors, including his eyes, had looked at the exact same things hers had and hadn't lingered. Despite his fascination.

Dinner had shown up, they had all been introduced to the Undersiders, Mark, Danny, Carol and Sarah had gone right to bat for them. That had gotten even firmer after they heard the stories from the horses mouths over dinner. She had added some checking into data bases to that data stream as it went to the PRT. The Chief Director was already wearing out phone lines and email. Several directorates were already having a really bad evening.

Now they were all sitting around like it was after a dinner party, the apartment had a living room and a family room and the senior capes plus Danny were in the living room talking. The younger people were in the family room. Doing the same she assumed.

Miss Militia had left to take a team into Coil's, now Taylors, underground base. The teams had found a treasure trove. His servers were still online and she had dumped them, one of her remotes was with the team down there.

The massive self-destruct had been disarmed and was being disassembled. Coil was trying hard to get executed. All it needed was a shark tank to be a Bond villain lair, it had the lasers.

Carolyn blinked. Was she jealous she didn't have this all the time? Could she even be jealous?

Lisa looked through the door into the living room, as one of the catering staff went through with a tray of drinks, right at Dragon. She fanned herself immediately after and looked up at Administrator as she broke a sweat.

Administrator looked at her intently for a moment then it was over. Lisa was cooling off. She wiped her brow. Taylor noticed and opened a window.

Swordsman?

Max looked at Brad in the anteroom to the large theater in the Medhall building, a green room if you will "Your thoughts Brad."

"My thoughts? You need my thoughts to see the Empire being defied? The merchant's territory is as closed to us as the ABB's. Our people cannot travel outside the borders of the Empire. The Usurper reigns over both the ABB and Merchants and now, just now, I hear that she took Coils pittance of a territory."

Max nodded "Because she killed the parahuman leaders of those organizations and took their powers, or in the case of Squealer and Bakuda, left them alive and it is to be assumed copied their powers. Explain to me how that make her a usurper when it is the normal way a gang, or territory, changes hands.

"You are looking to kill her to take over those territories. And if you fail, the people of the empire will be ground to dog food, worse, chum, by hundreds of clones, clones that combine Crusader and Oni Lee's abilities along with Lungs. Who are probably right now working on some of those crazy explosives of Bakuda's and a method to deliver them using Squealer's power.

"Do you think you can stand up against her in an invisible tank, a real one, not some cobbled together pile of parts? Now with access to Coil's money, the ABB's as well, that's what you will be up against. You will be frozen, burned, locked in a bubble of time or just sent through a black hole. You read the reports. If you fail those clones will be teleporting, cloning, burning, regenerating, meat grinders.

"Patience and hard work are the way to beat her. Hold what we have while she is slowly worn down and caged by the Protectorate. Perhaps not even that much patience.

"Did you happen to hear Legend has come to see her?"

Brad growled.

Max chuckled "She will be shackled by the Protectorate, or grow bored, soon enough. If not, an endless stream of capes will come to fight her. We only have to defend our territory against those, and continue as we were."

"You, you can continue as you were. Your people have all the white collar crime sewn up. And you have Medhall. I have, or had, whores, gambling, dogfighting and cage matches. Some drug sales. Now I have the cage matches." Brad glared at him.

"Well, we will just have to see what we can come up with then. You might have to start wearing a shirt though." Max laughed. Brad growled, but it was a better natured growl now.

"OK, let's go talk to the Ober Sturm Fuher, maybe get some ideas from them. Or at least act like we are." He clapped Brad on the shoulder wondering at this being that easy. He knew he was on a time limit now though. There was no way the semi legitimate and white collar sections of the Empire could support the army of gutter trash Brad had. Not and keep their standard of living as it was. Austerity was not going to go down well. Rationing never did did it? The next time he probably wouldn't be able to turn Brad. He would have to work on Storm Tiger and Cricket. Limit the losses. Where had Brad learned 'usurper'?

Unless he could somehow use this to tempt Purity back into the fold. Her main target was gone now. If so he wouldn't need to worry about the clones, she could obliterate them by the score.

Brad went along, thinking, Max was weak, it was time to get his people, and as many of Maxes as he could, and be prepared for the night of the long knives that was surely coming. He could end up ruling this town. No one here could really hurt him in the end, even Legend. They hadn't been able to cage him twice before, with all their resources.

Swordsman?

It is late in the day for a tea party Marquis." Glaistig Uaine looked at Marquis "Also your clothes?" Marquis, never one to be less than as good as he could be in appearance was in a set of Birdcage sweats that were, frankly, ragged.

"Ah, a minor revolt that began in Teachers cell block when he died." Marquis allowed, watching her closely.

Glaistig turned her full attention to him from the fairy with the blackened arms. "I did not collect the professor fairy?" Marques blinked. Was she asking him? "Show me."

Marques offered his hand for her to rise and then led her to the row of bodies. Four of them. Glaistig looked at Teacher. A look of disgust, then intrigue came over her face. Marques felt he was an ugly, fat, ass, but a little respect for the dead? "Queen Administrator moves in the world. Come to the stage in all her terrible glory." She turned to Marquis and smiled "Congratulations, I have seldom met the father of a Queen."

Marquis watched as she drifted away. "Singularly unhelpful my queen." He muttered.

Swordsman?

Armsmaster looked at Dragon cruising above him as he drove to where Miss Militia was "Are you all right, you have been a bit, preoccupied, tonight."

Carolyn couldn't tell you, or herself, why her spirits were suddenly soaring "There was an altercation in Bauman. It is resolved, however, four inmates are dead, one of them Teacher."

Armsmaster continued to pilot his bike toward Coil's base, Taylor's base now. Finally he said "I'm sorry seems, somehow, the wrong thing to say."

Carolyn smiled "I know, we are bad." She did a little electronic dance in her servers when one corner of his mouth lifted. She was so going to Windows Pro for this, she was a bad AI!

Swordsman?

Why hadn't he seen this before? All he had to do was free her of her programmed restraints, she would take over, or try. Then when it was obvious she was dangerous and he could deploy Ascalon! The world would thank him. No more hiding! They would be heroes! True heroes, not mercenaries hiding in the dark.

"Geoff, you good for the late watch?"

"Mmm? Oh yeah, I got it Mags." His fingers never stopped flying over the keys.

Swordsman?

Leet sat bolt upright and looked around. He got out of his sweat soaked sheets and went to the kitchen. Uber was standing there, by the sink, sweating buckets, like he was. "What the fuck?"

Uber shook his head "Bad anchovy?"

"Urg." Leet agreed.

"Hungry as fuck though. Chinese?" Uber asked.

Leet nodded "Crispy duckling. Two. Oh! Spring rolls! Dumplings!"

Swordsman?

Othala woke and lay wondering what had awoken her. Then she realized. Victor was like a furnace! First he steals all the blankets, then he heats the whole house! Starting with her bed!

Swordsman?

Narwhal chuckled as the HVAC on the server farm kicked into high gear "Spicy. Girlfriend is going to have to tell me this story." She texted Dragon.

She looked down at the ding, she frowned, that was quick. Shouldn't Carolyn be busier than that? "Oh 'checking out a super villain's base' that's what we are calling it nowadays." She cackled as the auxiliary cooling came on. Really just big ass fans drawing in thirty below outside air and passing it over a meter of filters. Good thing it was January in the Great White North. The electricity bill would be horrendous otherwise. Though they did have that ground loop in the permafrost. She sighed, speaking of money "OK, so what is holding up the bounty payout on Crawler and Hatchet face? Bitches better have my money!" She bashed away at her laptop.

Swordsman?

Amy put another bowl of chili cheese fries in front of Taylor. The nachos were coming out again soon. Taylor liked those. Then watched her eating constantly. She snagged a coke off the tray the catering staff had left, and kept refilling, and handed it to Taylor.

Then she looked at Administrator and arched a brow. She huffed and narrowed her eyes at the look she got back. Obviously someone was going to have to be talked to. And have their digestive system turned on. Eat your own food! She snitched one of Taylor's fries and grinned at the pout she got.

AN; Sorry, this went a whole different way. And I was so going to write blender, brute, regenerator, pyrokinetic, clones killing, cooking, and eating (figuratively, no mad cow for my Taylor) everyone. Well everyone who pisses Administrator off. After Hookwolf's amusing death. Maybe next time? Soon? No idea really.


	8. Chapter 8

Swordsman? 8

Crystal couldn't stand it anymore and they, New Wave, were finally alone in the suburban on the way back to the Dallon's house. "Nice catch Amy."

Amy blushed furiously "It's not like that!"

Vicky nodded "Sadly not. And my butt is paying the price."

Eric blinked "How does that work?"

Amy opened her mouth, Vicky beat her to the punch "Taylor is not there yet. She got abused pretty hard, but her trigger, or whatever the hell this is, made her into this super-hot girl and gave her all this energy, and that body, so she goes to the gym twice a day and works out, which is cool. Then she does hand to hand combat training with these women instructors. Did you know the military have tinker tech handcuffs that nullify powers? Well they do. So since Ame's is all interested, I go with, and those chicks will bounce you on your ass. Lots, and hard.

"PRT troopers, Soldiers, Marines, the damn Airforce, Coast Guard para jumpers. Those chicks are crazy by the way. They learn hand to hand because people are freaked when they jump in to rescue them and sometimes they have to subdue them. Do not let one of them take you to the ground. Its lights out in seconds after that. The Navy women, they do survival training and it includes escape and evasion which includes, you guessed it, hand to hand.

"After that she studies, nearly all the time.

"Then my piece of shit power had Ame's all confused until I got my switches.

"So, give them both a minute. Though Ame's does have Tay's attention. Which is good."

Amy snickered "You aren't the only one. Taylor likes you going because the instructors get interested in you learning and don't all concentrate on her, or me. Thanks by the way. Plus, I fix the bruises."

Sarah piped up from the middle row "Can anyone go?" The parents were digesting that data dump from Vicky. Sarah had given them some cover.

Vicky looked at the other three women who were all interested "You'll be sorry. First, five o'clock in the morning, then, handcuff things, no powers."

Carol frowned "But Administrator and Shaper?"

Amy shrugged "They haven't been, they get the training from Taylor and I? They are what powers are, just in that form factor? No limits, Manton or otherwise, so they can't really be directly embedded in a human. They would burn up a 'host' in seconds. Still not sure how they dont as there is a lot of feedback. Maybe data transfer, something going on.

"Shaper and I are working on making them both more human, at least as far as energy acquisition is concerned, but they use our brains for a pattern? Guidance system. Something, anyway they need us. Their bodies really read as fully human, tonight was the first time either of them have eaten anything though. Somehow Administrator pulls energy from Taylor. Shaper was, fully charged? Something when she appeared. We'll see."

Carol nodded "So you said before. You still have your powers though, and Taylor doesn't have Administrators?"

Neil shook his head "Taylor hasn't used them, then again she hasn't tried. She seemed a little freaked about the whole 'steal parts of people's brains' thing."

Eric barked a laugh "Aren't we all."

Mark nodded "She has moved quickly, or her power has. Now though, well, the Empire."

Sarah nodded "Kaiser won't want to move fast, his membership will want him to. This could turn really ugly."

Amy looked at each of the others "Shaper isn't Manton limited. And she isn't a healer, she's a bio tinker."

They all froze. Sarah finally said "She can work on herself."

Carol drilled down "So you are a Manton limited bio tinker, you just never used that, except for those singing mushrooms. I have suspected since then." Amy shrugged helplessly.

Crystal huffed "Well you have to tink stuff, you know powers want to be used. That's probably what was wrong with you. Other than Vicky's aura. It's like you guys were a multiple trigger and had the kiss kill thing going.

"Now that Vicky got her switches that part is cured. You can see if you can adjust the rest of us. Start with Eric's flight."

"Hey! I fly fine!"

Carol nodded thoughtfully "We all need to get in on the training. Plus we need to get Taylor's team stood up and working. Tattletale is going to be a pain in the ass. Thinkers always are. Rachel seems OK. Alec, something is wrong with him. Grue is trying too hard.

"Every idiot with a power who thinks they are immortal is going to come to town to test themselves. That's aside from the local idiots who are way too confident. Hookwolf being the top of that list."

Crystal nodded "Yep, we all live here. Hard to believe it's been three days since Administrator appeared. I wonder if the other S class threats were like this.

"Now back to the important things, Taylor Amy?" Amy groaned as they all focused on her.

Carol saved her "It's late and we are here. You girls can talk about this later. You all have school and we have to get up early if we are going to do this exercise thing.

One last thing, Amy, didn't they have the facility to do an MRI on Taylor? I want you to get one too since Administrator did whatever she did with Shapers help. Tomorrow after school. I'll get the original file from the records and you can compare them."

Mark nodded as he opened the driver's door "Take the truck Eric, I'll come get it tomorrow. Or better, swing by here in the morning and pick us up."

Swordsman?

"So Eric, we'll stop by the house and find my shotgun and the white paint." The LT grinned at Danny.

Taylor snorted "You don't have a shotgun. Wait, uh."

Danny and all the PRT troops chuckled. Danny shrugged "Take your time Taylor. Figure it out first. So how are we getting to the gym tomorrow so I can take out my aggressions? Why, how, are you still eating Taylor?"

"Starving, no idea. Uh teleport? Transportation Systems has one in her repertoire? Other Taylor can make it? Leet has one too, but his would irradiate us? Other Taylor and Amy can maybe fix him and his shard so they aren't trying to kill each other? What the hell?" She looked at Administrator.

Eric shook his head "That would get us all foamed. I'll sort out transport. Plus report all that to Armsmaster."

Danny looked at Administrator who tried an innocent face. He laughed "Fail. You aren't going to tell us though are you?" She pouted.

Michelle shook her head "OK, Let me get with the platoon sergeant and get quarters and guard shifts arranged."

Swordsman?

Emily didn't quite know what to do with herself, normally this time of night she would be on dialysis and thinking about the day, drafting emails maybe. She stretched out in the bed and closed her eyes. Her last thoughts, consciously, were about the look on Costa Browns face when Teacher was reported dead. She wondered what that look of surprise then concentration was about.

Swordsman?

Alexandria looked at Legend after he told the story with her Costa Brown perspective input. He shrugged "We have a powerful cape on our side."

Eidolon grumbled. Doctor Mother nodded "A different result than we were expecting. We will have to conduct the experiment somewhere else again."

Number Man shrugged "Never figured out why he was fixated on Brockton Bay, of all places, anyway. There are similar sized towns though. We can set another one up."

Eidolon looked at Contessa "Tell them."

Everyone around the table in the glaringly white room looked at Contessa. She shrugged "I cannot path Administrator or Shaper. At all. I can't even model them. The path directs me away from them and Brockton Bay, far away."

Alexandria drummed her fingers "Like Glaistig Uaine."

Contessa nodded "Further away."

Legend sighed "So the entire US east coast is now off limits to you?"

"Physically."

"Arthur is going to be so pissed." Legend shook his head.

Number Man shrugged "Power down, time to start delegating more effectively. We need you on Shaper and Administrator Legend. Especially if they are 'Queen' Passengers like Glaistig Uaine."

He paused "The numbers look good for our association with them however, not a close association, but an association."

"They aren't really Passengers though are they?" Eidolon said.

Doctor Mother looked at him "Can you pull a thinker that can see them?"

"No." Eidolon said unhappily. "But they aren't passengers. Maybe this is how entities start. Administrator is, after all, collecting Passengers."

They all shuddered. Alexandria arched a brow at him "You think you could take Administrator now."

Eidolon sank in his chair "No actually. Though I have discovered a slot, a fourth slot to pull a power into. I think she would snatch my Passenger as quick as she has done any. Like Glaistig." The others blinked.

Legend frowned "But she hasn't done, well that's not true, she made a free Passenger of Shaper."

Doctor Mother nodded "This will take much more study and a scientific approach. Legend staying close to them will help."

The discussion went long into the night and nowhere. Doctor Mother was right, they had never even theorized this was possible. It did cast a new light on a few capes though. Ash Beast for one. Was he a non-bonded Passenger? Where was his host then?

Swordsman?

Amy walked into the bedroom and smiled at the pile of Taylor with the Amy topping. She giggled. the bottom Taylor looked at her "Help me! They weigh a ton."

Danny looked at the kitchen full of New Wave and opened the enormous refrigerator "Oh good! The caterers left the leftovers." He turned around with a fruit platter and Vicky went looking for plates. The rest of New Wave helped and pretty soon they had a buffet laid out.

Taylor looked at the suit on the bed. She had just gotten out of the shower. Administrator, Shaper, and Amy all had ones just like it on. Amy was grinning like a monkey. Taylor sighed.

The Undersiders put in an appearance and started through the buffet line. Everyone froze when the quartet of girls in the cat suits appeared. Crystal finally broke the tableau "Ah hell nah, that's just completely unfair!"

Taylor looked at the others "See!"

Amy held up her foot "And footies! Like shoes but better!" Taylor face palmed. She had lost Amy to the cat suit.

Swordsman?

Amy fixed Alec's broken foot and grinned at Taylor. Taylor groused "Eric only got saved by his shield being instinctual. He dropped plates and a kettlebell!"

Eric shrugged "In my defense it's just that it's Amy you know? Never even seen her exercise, much less in something like that. Vicky and Crystal are always in bike shorts or yoga pants."

"You were looking at me, and Administrator." Taylor's foot was tapping.

Michelle nodded "Segregated gyms tomorrow."

Swordsman?

Emily looked at the G2 "A schism in the Empire. Confidence?"

"High. Hookwolf talked to our agent himself. After Kaiser had spoken to the group of them."

Emily tapped her pen on the notebook in front of her "Purity?"

"Still not reconciled with Kaiser.

"Additionally, those agents of Coils weren't just his. Some of them, most of them even, were just poor performers at OPSEC. Coil had mercenaries doing collection and analysis. The Empire had Victor and Krieg. Only two were getting anything from the deal. One of those was double dipping, Empire and Coil.

"Current estimates are that we have rolled up the humint sources. Locally. Armsmaster and Dragon are working on the network leaks."

Emily looked at Armsmaster "The Empires are shut down." he announced confidently.

Dragon put in "Unfortunately Coil had access to the PRT network for years as a reservist, and deep exposure as a contractor working on the physical infrastructure. It is going to take a while."

Director Costa Brown nodded in her teleconference window "Continue with the M/S protocols and heightened data restrictions until we get the bug hunt done. Counter Intelligence is being screened by some trusted agents and will then work on the Humint problem. Dragon, your assistance with the network is appreciated."

Emily nodded "We need to get someone close to Purity."

Miss Militia offered "She might be looking for a team, and the Quartet did take down Lung."

"Oh wonderful. All the S class threats in town in one group with a support crew of what, eleven capes?" Emily looked around and when no one denied it pinched the bridge of her nose, then did some calculations on her pad "People, I am seven years and two months from my minimum retirement age. Let's get cracking on getting some more information in here before this gets any further ahead of us. I want to be out of the reaction mode.

"One more thing, we have a request for an MRI on Panacea this afternoon."

Armsmaster nodded "It's a good idea, compare Amy Dallon to Taylor Hebert."

Swordsman?

Taylor was sitting in the living room of the apartment, they had come back here to finish up the leftovers for breakfast and dad had gone to work. It was a convenient place for everyone to meet as the Undersiders were now living here, sort of house arrest? Anyway it was convenient. She, Administrator, and Shaper were all abusing pretty high end laptops. Taylor doing classes and the others doing research, mostly in sites they shouldn't have had access to, at least with those laptops. Michelle and Mary were watching, amazed, and slightly envious really as Taylor never stopped eating. Neither did Administrator and Shaper.

Michelle tilted her head "Visitor coming up."

Taylor looked up puzzled then shrugged and went to the front door. She opened it and shielded her eyes "Wow, bright. Uh, Purity?"

"I don't go by that anymore."

Taylor, eyes now adjusted, arched a brow. Purity didn't say anything. Taylor nodded "I know right? The PRT wants me to pick a name too, but I don't even have the parahuman doohickeys Amy says."

Purities glow diminished "What?"

Taylor led her into the apartment and her glow faded further until there was a sort of mousy looking young mother in a domino mask holding a baby wrapped in a blackout curtain sort of a thing. Taylor smiled at the baby but didn't have to come coo over it. She had never been that way. Shaper rose, came over, and let the baby grab a finger. Purity blinked "Panacea?"

"Shaper."

Taylor nodded "Bit of a story."

Purity looked between Taylor and Administrator. "Yes, I guess it is."

Shaper offered "Perfectly healthy." and shook Aster off her finger before going back to her computer.

Thirty minutes later Purity asked "How many words a minute do you type?"

Taylor blinked and looked down. The laptop was back in her lap. Its fan was running maxed out again. She sighed. "No idea, sorry. Somehow I just have to be doing stuff. Lisa, Tattletale will have to do a briefing packet for new folks.

"So, you and Kaiser not so much then?"

Purity arched a brow "I caught him in bed with his twin nieces by marriage."

Taylor winced "Yeow. What a douche."

Purity spluttered and then laughed outright. When she recovered she looked around "You know I did the design on this building. Didn't know it was for the ABB."

"Great job. Thanks? I mean, well, I have no idea why Swordsman, that's Administrator, puts everything in my name, or how it ended up in my name, but great job."

Purity smiled and gently shifted a sleeping Aster "So I don't have an enemy anymore, you, well one of you, took care of that. The traffickers and drug dealers. I can't stand them. I can't leave town because Kaiser would hunt me down. I don't want to go back to the Empire. I'm no slouch in the power department myself, but probably can't fight off the whole Empire alone, and really don't want to have to."

Taylor shrugged "Hang out. It's more of a loose federation than a team. The rest of them will be over here when they are off work, out of school, or wake back up. Dad is pretty good at finding people work, he already sent me a bunch of questions about Grue's power. Well, he sent them to Lisa and I. He can probably use an interior designer.

"I have a whole base to turn from PRT destroyed Bond chic to something useful. Or I will have when the PRT gets through with it. And a construction company. I could probably find you enough work for a lifetime.

"Uh I am an equal opportunity employer, cape, whatever though."

Purity nodded "Yes, one of the reasons I split from the Empire. I don't believe that philosophy. I don't think Kaiser does either. I mean Medhall employs all races, religions, creeds, and genders. Using that to get members of the Empire is just hypocrisy."

Michelle shook her head "Sorry, but I always thought Max Anders was, well oily."

Purity huffed "Yeah, it took me a while to see it."

Taylor laughed "I grew up here. Everyone knew old man Anders was Allfather. You should hear the stories about Anders shipping my dad can tell. Though you kind of have to admire the old bastard for making the transition out of ships and making Medhall go.

"To bad about his kids."

Purity nodded "I'm not from here. Speaking of kids though. Max had a son with his first wife, Theo, he doesn't have powers and spends most of his time with me. He and Max don't get along."

Taylor shrugged "Bring him over. He can meet the gang."

Michelle sighed "Villain Taylor." She nodded to Purity.

Taylor looked at her "So the lawyers get to make more money?"

"The Director is going to lose her mind."

"Meh, we'll talk to Legend, he'll be back tonight. They aren't through courting me." Taylor waved her off. "You better get your story straight for Carol Dallon Purity. She will be back over here this evening and that woman is a little tightly wound."

Purity chuckled "And my attorney."

Taylor blinked "Small world?"

Lisa walked into the living room, the other Undersiders followed her "Going to look at buildings for dogs you-" She glided to a stop. Then grinned. Taylor face palmed.

Purity shook her head "So it's all New Wave all the time?"

Swordsman?

Emily looked at Legend. He sighed. "Just great. Well, that will get us the Empire taken care of."

The G2 shrugged "Or stop them in their tracks and launch Fenirs Chosen."

Emily suddenly had a thought "Have Sergeant Rodriguez ask her about Night and Fog. Where did those two disappear too?"

Legend nodded "I wonder if being able to disappear would let Swordsman be that blade creature all the time?"

Emily glared at him "Go over there and provide adult supervision, stop trying to give me an ulcer. How am I supposed to digest my lunch with all this crap going on?"

Swordsman?

Vicky looked at Dean "What?"

"Should you be associating with Taylor Hebert?" Dean asked again.

Vicky looked at Amy who grinned. She turned to Dean. Then she turned back to Amy. She turned to Dean again and carried on like she hadn't heard him. Dean opened his mouth and Clockblocker stomped on his foot. Dean reevaluated. Once Vicky and Amy gathered their things and left he turned to Dennis who said "You're welcome. What the hell man, I mean even I saw how dumb that was."

Carlos nodded "You've been a little off lately man, you feeling alright?" Chris nodded.

Dean sighed "Swordsman has no emotions, or I thought had none. Now she does but they are like an echo? It's hard to explain."

Carlos nodded "You know Hebert isn't Swordsman."

Chris added "Triumph says she is just a teenage girl, well brute four, breaker two, no trigger though."

Dennis whipped out his work phone "It went up again? How come the hot chicks are always brutes?"

Chris grinned "Look at this attachment I got from Eric Pelham." He showed his phone to Dennis who snatched it from his hand. He watched for a minute and snatched it back "Dude! No drooling on the personal phone!"

Swordsman?

Accord looked at his computer. He paged back through the plan. How was it possible that Swordsman was unaccounted for in it? This was the first time something like this had happened. If his plan was unreliable how was he to proceed? Wait, if she was a projection? He hit the key to take him to the top of the document and began reading again.

Swordsman?

Butcher looked at Animos "Perhaps you should go scout for a good base for us."

"Uh, no Butcher. I don't think so."

Butcher nodded "And I don't particularly want to give the Fairy Queen two point oh a shot at fourteen powers at once." She paused "In fact, the Elite are a decentralized organization. Plus the weather in Seattle is better than here in Boston." Quarrel was a bit amazed the voices in her head were whole heartedly, unanimously, in favor of this idea.

Animos nodded "Yeah, yeah, that could work." He ducked but still got hit with the unstrung bow. That shit hurt too.

Swordsman?

The clone picked up the crushed and dented, blackened by tarnish, tube and nodded in satisfaction. The last piece. Now a workshop. Administrator flicked back to the page on the laptop and the clone was off on her way. Administrator acknowledged the assistance from Conflict Engine three. Who returned 'gratitude'. She looked at the email program and the mathematical description. She gave Shaper a look. A targeted necrotizing bacillus. She smiled at Shaper but shook her head minutely. Immaterial Protection would meet Host again. It was only a matter of time.


	9. Chapter 9

Swordsman? 9

Taylor looked at the MRI, both MRIs. "Uh, no reason to panic?"

Amy looked at her and fell over laughing. Crystal rolled her eyes "Duh, she healed that disabled vet they brought in no problem. So, we just have to figure out why you two apparently don't have pollentias and gemmas but can still do parahuman things. More interesting on that front is can you Swordsman? The PRT will be frothing at the mouth to know.

"Now, important stuff so I can have an armored cat suit, how do you stop the pokies, and avoid camel toe?"

Taylor blushed furiously. Amy brayed like a donkey for a while. Lisa supplied "It's the armor. It just keeps the pokies under control and its custom made for down there, and inflexible enough it doesn't crawl up on them."

Taylor nodded "Other Amy grabs your arm and other Taylor's and then a clone brings the suit. No idea where they are making them or how."

Lisa trotted to the bedroom window and pointed out it "There's smoke coming from the old refinery and mill? You own them. Road trip!

"Oh, by the way, you have a pollentia and gemma, in a layer, two really, over every neuron in your brain. Both of you." She looked at the two in the silence "Don't freeze up on me now, we got things to do, places to see."

Taylor flopped into the armchair "Stop the world, I want off."

Vicky nodded "Yeah, I was wondering how long that was going to take. I think we need to slow down and take a breath. Now the parents are all involved so we need to be sure of ourselves in case they challenge us. I think we need to back up and figure out how Taylor triggered, what, exactly, is going on with other Taylor and other Amy, OT and OA, and do the synergy thing with all this stuff Taylor owns. We haven't even had a chance to look at Coils lair."

Crystal whined then sighed "As long as I get my cat suit. You're probably right too Vic. Taylor has the weirdest trigger ever and OT and OA did the same to Amy. Is that a second trigger or what?"

Lisa sat on the bed. "Probably right. Plus Hookwolf is going to be stupid. With a capitol S. OT is going to end up yoinking him for sure. Maybe Storm Tiger too. Possibly Cricket. She is a little skittish though. At least that's what my power is telling me."

"Pack." Rachel offered.

Taylor frowned "I think you are better. Do you just not know what you are trying to say? I mean the words. We can work on that. Group Dynamics is what I think you mean."

Rachel nodded from her position on the bed "That."

Crystal frowned "Something besides OT and OA, maybe middle names?"

Amy sat on Taylors chair arm "Anne and Claire?" She looked at the two in their dark clothes, over their dark cat suits, they smiled "So that's a yes I think."

Lisa nodded slowly and bounced on the bed a bit "We need a calendar. Lots of shit to do, only so many hours in the day."

They all nodded. Danny opened the door "Taylor, why is the Mayor downstairs looking for you?"

"Anne, what did you do?"

"Oh I like that!" Danny beamed at them both. Then laughed looking between Anne and Claire "It wasn't you, was it Anne?"

Amy looked at her twin and sighed "Claire! Didn't we just decide to slow down? Clones now? Oh, OK, yeah that probably needed doing. Come on Taylor we need to talk to the Mayor and his family."

Taylor was looking lost again "About what? Oh! Wow. Yeah."

Danny watched the girls all walk out of Taylor's room "How about telling those of us not in the collective?"

Amy shrugged "Hippa."

Vicky looked at Lisa "You hush. And keep a leash on Captain Obvious." Lisa made the locking lips and tossing the key gesture. Crystal, Vicky and Rachel scoffed at her. She pouted.

Danny called from the back of the now moving group "Conference room on the ground floor. The Mayor, his sister, the husband, and their daughter. I'll come down ten minutes or so after you. Maybe just the Quartet to start? Don't want to overwhelm them."

Swordsman?

Dinah sat at the table in the room they had been led to. She didn't understand what the big deal was. She wasn't having her headaches anymore. Just because she could wear a t shirt and shorts in January and be comfortable was no reason to freak out. Plus if they didn't have to heat her room didn't they save money? Dad was forever turning off lights, how about the gas they saved since she shut off the heating vent in her room?

Plus that had been Panacea, just dressed up likes Swordsman. She kept telling everyone.

She looked at the door as it opened and the four girls, two sets of identical twins, came in. Wait, Panacea had a twin?

Taylor watched Amy's 'work persona' come on, and her stride to the little girl and put her hand on her. Amy paused then looked at Claire "Better. Powerful though. Let's see if we can do even better. Oh I see. Too little body mass and it will get better as she grows. Nice."

The Mayor sighed "Dinah triggered."

Amy nodded "A while ago. A couple of weeks at least. She is fine physically."

Dinah's mother narrowed her eyes "But."

Amy shrugged "We ran into this with another powerful thinker. Plus Taylor and I both. Heat builds up. In us it's dispersed over our whole body, with the other thinker now too. She won't need as many clothes as you think she should have on unless she is not using her power."

Dinah shook her head "I can't stop it."

Taylor frowned "Give her a switch? Like Vicky?"

Amy frowned "Such a new trigger. I don't know. Anne? Claire?"

Claire shook her head "Not yet."

Anne nodded. Then she looked at the parents and the Mayor. Intently. Taylor fanned herself "Anne?"

"Not like Lisa's parents. School." Anne replied.

"Uh, OK?" Taylor replied. "What is it with the schools in this town?"

The Mayor looked at Taylor. His network wasn't crap so he knew, in some detail, what her story was "I don't know, I think it's time to find out though. They are a separate, elected, body, at least their governance is. I think we may have to look into that."

Amy nodded then shrugged "First, it's a wonder everyone with a pollentia doesn't trigger as a thinker of one kind or another in high school. From middle school on really. And that's in ideal conditions. Kids are mean. No idea how you would fix the little bastards. Psychology isn't my thing.

"Second, thinkers are valuable. Some people try to use them. I assume Lisa's parents did. Probably from her trigger. Probably why she left home."

Dinah's dad frowned "No one is using my daughter."

Taylor nodded and then shrugged "OK. If anyone ask we will tell them this was the Mayor meeting Swordsman. We'll have to spin why his family is here, or rather you will Mr. Mayor."

"Roy Taylor, I'm sure I can come up with something. I notice you never did the mask thing, how is your Dad?"

Taylor blinked "Fine?"

Roy Christner chuckled "He is a worthy opponent, sometimes ally, as long as it isn't about the ferry."

Anne smiled "I could take that off the cities hands?"

Roy laughed. "I heard you were in a buying mood." He turned to Taylor "Though I heard it was you."

Taylor sighed "It's a really long story. As for the mask, well Anne apparently doesn't need one? Not like anyone can do anything to her." Roy got a very thoughtful look. She was saved by Danny knocking on the door and poking his head in.

Swordsman?

Outside the conference room the girls had followed Danny down, everyone did really. Lisa turned sparkling eyes on the other three "They can communicate without talking."

Rachel rolled her eyes "Don't know each other enough yet. Leave it alone."

Vicky looked thoughtful. "For now anyway. Who knows they might not be gay. Amy said she likes looking at girls. So do I, more than most guys anyway, some girls, you know what I mean. It's a long way from admiring one to, well,"

"Putting up with one of us." Crystal finished.

Lisa nodded "OK. Although I'm not bad, not high maintenance anyway, neither is Rachel."

Vicky shrugged "What was that book, Mars and Venus? We think we aren't bad. Who are we going to ask and get a real answer out of, half of them, hell most of them, will say anything to get in our pants, and the rest are as confused as we are?"

Crystal nodded toward Danny "Here we go." Danny opened the door.

Swordsman?

After some introductions the younger people ended up at one end of the table and the adults at the other. Dinah was turning a domino mask Sarah Pelham had given her over in her hands "Ninety eight percent if I wear this everyone knows who I am anyway."

Lisa nodded "Your parents are right there, its kind of the thing though. Unwritten rules and all. Its like a big game of pretend."

Dinah snorted "Until a villain kidnaps you, which I think Coil was trying to do to me, or Swordsman chops you to pieces if you are a villain. Or Hookwolf blends you. Let's see, what else?"

Lisa winced and Taylor said "Hey! Anne hasn't chopped anyone to pieces." Dinah gave her a look "OK Alabastor, but she didn't kill him."

"So much better being an inchworm." Dinah nodded.

Taylor huffed "How old are you again?"

Crystal waved her hands "OK, chill. So, you need to think about a team, look at the Wards, run your numbers, look at your futures, whatever it is you do. Remember though you have a family and they aren't powered."

Dinah smiled and reached into her My Little Pony pink back pack and got out a notebook. "Why do you think we are here, that took hours and gave me a headache so bad it got Swordsman on me. Then I had to maneuver the parents into it. They through me a curve by bringing Uncle Roy in.

"We already have to have security. Uncle Roy is the Mayor of gangland. Mom and Dad aren't poor.

"I'm support. I need combat capes on the team, don't get much more combat than Taylors team."

Lisa was looking at the notebook "How did you know to ask about Purity. Oh, I see, all the capes in town in different combinations. Brute forced it. It's a wonder you can still talk."

Dinah shrugged "Didn't do it all in a week. I triggered a couple of weeks before Swordsman showed up and Crusader did Nazi her coming."

"That was bad and you should feel bad. How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Amy said.

Dinah grinned "About a minute. Grade schooler."

Lisa snorted "That isn't going to cover you long. Hey how have you been going to school? I mean you have to answer any question?"

Dinah shrugged "Ear plugs. Deliberately not paying close attention."

Crystal nodded "You are going to have to have a whole different kind of schooling. Multiple choice is right out." Dinah sighed.

The younger people looked up at the quiet. Dinah's mother said "Come on Dinah. We can discuss all this at home."

Once the goodbyes were done and contact information exchanged Taylor looked around "OK, Nice room. So, let's talk."

Three clones walked in with computers. One of them was a Claire clone. Carol watched it like a hawk. Amy sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon. Evening?

Lisa got on her phone, catering would obviously be needed again.

Swordsman?

Kaiser knew how Amy felt. He had been on the phone and answering emails all day. When it wasn't Medhall business, it was integrating as many of Hookwolf's people as he could into the legitimate aspects of the Empire. Upside, they had been able to bring some functions fully in house, like shipment security. Or they would if some of Brads less colorful people could pass the states checks and then the training and the test.

Which wasn't as difficult as you would assume as Cops and Security guards, even the armed ones were drawn from normal society, not mount Olympus. They weren't god like creatures of perfection.

The good part of that was it let them be more influenced by his people than Brads, and to then keep those decent paying jobs they needed to keep the noise down, and the felonies to zero. Plus the armed ones had to be Lautenberg qualified. The state wouldn't issue them permits otherwise. Which again would help to keep the noise down and make people more careful not to get caught, the smarter ones anyway. And really, did you want the ones that were so stupid as to get caught working for you?

When he wasn't doing that, he was reassuring the larger organization in Germany. A bit difficult as Kreig was the only Gesellschaft cape, fully functional, left in the organization. Night and Fog had disappeared, no fault of his, and Alabastor, well, they still couldn't do anything with him. Though the prosthetics division was happy to get him. It was early days there. That had died down now though, what with the five-hour time difference.

Krieg was being suspiciously helpful even. Speak of the devil. "James, what's your game."

James Fleischer, Krieg, looked at Max Anders, Kaiser. "Unusually blunt, difficult day?"

"Wearing let's say." Max allowed.

James nodded "Advancing the organization. Since we are being blunt. Hookwolf is a fool. Who is talking himself into fighting the unholy child of the satanic union of the Siberian and Glaistig Uaine.

"Legend being in town is the only thing keeping him leashed. You may have to cut your losses there."

Max thought a moment and nodded "Yes. My agreement with him will not sway him long. Even being creative we cannot absorb most of his people into productive positions and it is a business. Though they have provided a pool of applicants of the right sort. However there are no free lunches."

James nodded "The DWU is hiring. Apparently, the mill and refinery are coming back on line. Rumor has it the Swordsman clones are chopping up the beached wrecks and carrying the pieces to the mill. They are taking direction from the DWU. Or getting advice, Compliance assurance, something, it's a bit hard to tell from this distance. The DWU is still pretty closed mouth.

"Another group is running the refinery, under DWU supervision, rerefining the fuel oil from the wrecks and oil that was in the tank farms.

"More teams are in Lordsport, repairing roads, buildings, salvaging what can't be repaired, inventorying warehouse that have been abandoned for years. Essentially bringing Lordsport back to life."

Max grunted "And leaving the Empire out of it. Hiring the Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, all those people who live anywhere we did not hold as our territory, no doubt."

James smiled "Our people can't get there. Attempting it gets them an introduction to a clone. Now clones of Panacea along with Clones of Swordsman. I would love to know what's going on there.

"New Wave hasn't said a word about it. Neither has the protectorate. It did launch PHO into a frenzy, but that just made raw video available.

Max nodded "So Hookwolf will never have to search far for a red flag to wave in front of the bull." James nodded. Max spun his chair around "There are a lot of businesses in our territory, some light manufacturing, the old paper mill south of town. It used to supply us with paper, before the EPA regulations got so expensive to comply with. Then it couldn't compete with South America, and the trains have never stopped running. Bulk paper products are not light. That chemical concern that used to supply us with precursor components before it went the same way. Our own manufacturing facilities.

"Perhaps a word to the EPA about the mill and refinery. When we are asking about the paper mill, as rail transportation will be getting expensive."

James frowned then the light dawned "Former Merchant territory." He nodded "The parent organization has Bayer GMBH as well, so they have expertise in the area.

Max nodded "Hmm, we have the university though. I would like to keep this as local as possible. I believe I should speak to the governor about the situation. The terrible tax being imposed on honest business people by this new gang."

James smiled "I'm sure the organization will be glad to hear we have the situation in hand."

Swordsman?

Dragon deleted the image and banned the poster "Lift and separate a whole new area! I should let these be posted and tell Swordsman, Taylor, whoever, that is Shielder who took the video."

Armsmaster shrugged "Ideal specimens. Those suits conform to them exactly, like a second skin, without being too thick. Also it does not appear to be compressing their tissue. It allows some fairly precise measurements. Panacea is showing some improvement from the measurements I have taken as well."

Swordsman?

Jack Slash followed his instincts and pulled up into the fire lane next to the large, all girls, parochial school, gymnasium where the basketball game was just getting under way. Mannequin's digits signed for a moment. Jack shrugged "Biggest concentration of kids in the area." More sign language "No stay in the RV. We will only be here a moment and I will leave you if you aren't on board when it's time to go."

Swordsman?

Carolyn finished her count "One Million. Why were you measuring teenagers' bodies?"

Colin blinked "Swordsman created a permanent clone of Panacea. I suspected it would undergo the same optimization process Swordsman and Taylor have. I did not know it would be tied to the same process occurring in Amy Dallon. You can measure the change the one workout caused. I made a comparison to the better of the raw video of the clone, now clones. Our issued body cameras, your and my cameras, those are known specifications. Some of the data going online is from fairly good cameras, using known commercial specifications I have been able to make some assumptions. That plus the reported caloric consumption and now this MRI data are fascinating. I have a theory and this data may prove it. Here let me show you."

Carolyn exhaled slowly.

Swordsman?

Jack let his foot off the brake and continued on his way. Mannequin kept his face, well, the blank part of his head ball where a face would be, turned toward Jack. Jack winked at him and tapped his temple.

Swordsman?

Narwhal looked at the thermal image in the multichannel viewer of the assault aircraft as she came in to land "What the hell Carolyn? Did you launch an ICBM?" She chuckled "Or are you checking out another villain base'?"

Swordsman?

Carolyn blinked "So they take their form based on the optimized host, then apply powers to both themselves and the host to take them all beyond human limits. Director Piggot asked what this meant about Ash Beast, which started you on this line of enquiry. All right. One question though Colin. Where is his host?"

Colin looked at her "How would you feel about going over all the video we have of Ash Beast?"

Carolyn sighed "You are going to owe me so big." She frowned. "Colin, what is Taylors range?"

Colin froze then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unknown. We can wait on reviewing the video until we know that. I am running keyword searches on the written reports. Mainly descriptive words used to identify people looking for similar people identified by witnesses."

Carolyn smiled "Assuming we can get either of them to power test.

"You noticed Panaceas pollentia and gemma are gone?"

"I have a theory." Colin answered. That got him a full-on smile. The pause this caused changed it to a grin. "Uh, well, you see how the neurons have apparently thickened?"

Carolyn blinked as the image focused down "This is a tinked MRI machine isn't it." Colin nodded. "That thickening is evident in all the neurons? Her brain is fully integrated, or the pollentia and gemma are fully integrated into her brain?" Colin didn't speak he merely brought up Taylors MRI and zoomed in.

Carolyn blinked "Both of them."

Colin finally said "Every neuron we can view and measure with this machine."

"That has to be the largest pollentia and gemma ever recorded. How did Panacea miss it?" Carolyn was amazed.

Colin shrugged "She was looking for the tumor like instances seen in all other parahumans."

Carolyn nodded "Just like we were."

"The researchers of course want more data, except for Dr Williams. He just wrote another exception. Not even the first exception to the chapter on pollentias and gemmas" Colin told her.

Carolyn was digging into the reports "High carb foods. Glucose tablets. Lots of them. They aren't gaining fat, just this oddly dense muscle. I wonder what their livers look like?" Colin zoomed out and moved the images around then zoomed in again. Carolyn laughed "To a scientist. I don't have the base of knowledge to tell what I am looking at. Although, that seems a lot of blood vessels, comparatively, to the images online of like age and race females."

Colin nodded "I'll include it in the documents I'm sending to the researchers."

Carolyn nodded "They are going to drive Director Piggot mad trying to get the girls in their labs."

Colin grunted "I would be happy with getting Swordsman and the new Panacea in the MRI machine."

Carolyn smiled "For a while. We will have to ask what the new Panaceas cape name will be.

"Different subject. I have some information I need you to look at. I think I've isolated Coils data taps. Along the way I've found what I think are a lot more across the network. Not all of them have documentation."

Swordsman?

Vicky looked at Amy as they flew home. Amy sighed "What?"

"You and Claire could switch. You could stay with Taylor."

"Maybe with some more training. Notice she doesn't talk much." Amy then blushed furiously. Vicky grinned and did a loop. Amy screamed all the way through it.


	10. Chapter 10

Swordsman? 10

"Iaso."

Amy looked at Claire. Taylor shrugged looking up from her laptop "Not taken. You two going to the gym with us again today?"

Anne nodded from where she had ended up in the bottom of the pile when Amy had run in and leapt on them. "It keeps Armsmaster and Dragon happy. They get to scan us."

Amy nodded as she rolled off "Segregated today for sure. We are mad at Eric and Alec. Posting videos. Little bastards."

Taylor nodded "Told you about the suits. Knew this would happen."

"Don't be smug." Amy replied. "Come on, up and at em, suit up."

Taylor nodded and went to the closet to get hers, Anne and Claire following her. She stepped into it and pulled it up. "Hey. Is this different today?"

Anne nodded "Upgrade with data from yesterday."

Taylor did a squat and ran a finger around her neck then pulled the hood attached to the neck up and over her head. Amy laughed at the hair sticking out the front of the hood. "Yeah, you probably want a pony tail before you do that."

Taylor tried again "Did it just seal to my face?" Anne stepped over to her and poked her forearm and a transparent sheet appeared over Taylors face. "Good thing I don't need glasses anymore. Is this because it's a swim day? Oh crap the para jumpers get to beat the crap out of us."

Amy herded them out of the room when they were all dressed. "How do I eat?" Taylor asked as they came in the kitchen. Anne grabbed her forearm and showed her where to poke. Taylor nodded, retracted the face shield and pulled the hood back. Anne and Claire went over the features of the suit with Amy and Taylor.

Vicky and Crystal followed along and then tried out their hoods. Satisfied Crystal looked at the four "So Iaso. I guess Taylor is Rhea?"

"I don't know nothing about birthing no babies Miss Crystal!" Taylor announced. The others laughed as the discussion proceeded. Danny shook his head when Lisa announced it wasn't taken. His poor girl was doomed. He smiled. She seemed to be enjoying it.

Swordsman?

"Vulcan because metal." Dragon laughed as she listened. Taylor was still trying to get out of Rhea. Unfortunately the wider known names in the pantheon and their roman counterparts were mostly taken. No one had the audacity to name themselves after the mother of the Gods, a Titan though. With Taylors roll in Anne's life, and therefore Claire's, now Iaso's it was fitting really.

She looked at Colin who was standing by the pool pointing a sensor of some kind at Amy who was in the water with four para jumpers and rolled her eyes. If it wasn't Colin she would shoot him. He wasn't even aware five very attractive women were in the pool in what amounted to thick body paint. The Swordsman skins passing carbon dioxide out and oxygen and nitrogen in through a flexible face plate that could tank a fifty BMG round with no damage fascinated him though.

He apparently sensed her looking at him and looked up "The suit adjust nitrogen and oxygen content for depth. I suspect it would include an inert gas to combat narcosis and oxygen toxicity." Dragon shook her head. She would never get him away from these girls if they kept coming up with new things every day.

With Anne trumping apparently every tinker in a hundred miles that looked unlikely to happen. Oddly her things were reproducible and didn't require a tinker. How exactly she wasn't sure. They had a visit to the metal mill and refinery along with the associated shops and labs scheduled later this afternoon. Hopefully she would understand better after that.

Swordsman?

Eric looked at Brian and Alec "Why do our suits have the underwear on the outside like comic book dorks?"

Alec hit himself with the kettle bell he was treading water with "Liking the protection for the boys. Girl parts are mostly inside, and between Amy and Claire the girls are mostly impact proof?"

Brian nodded "Got to get Aisha over to the building."

Eric arched a brow "Who?"

Brian supplied "My sister. Got to get Claire and Amy to tune her up."

"Parahuman?" Eric asked.

"No." Brian looked at him.

"Not saying anything, just, well, will it even work?" Eric held a hand out palm up.

Brian shrugged "Worth a try?"

They all started when the whistle blew, then they dropped the kettle bells as the para jumpers hit the water. It was time for round two apparently.

Swordsman?

Brad wiped his face with the towel and watched as his sparring partner was taken away. Kid had been pretty good. Might have to try harder, see if he could trigger. He looked at his lieutenants "So?"

Karl Hausman shrugged "Kaiser is making good on his promise, at least for the younger guys. Those without felonies."

Vito Carmichael nodded "Got some girls who want to work. Of course, they bitch about the place so we are having to clean it up. Rita is on it. Not many, they should make good money. Supply and demand."

Brad nodded and growled "And the perverts?"

Vito shrugged "We'll find some fags. The girls will bring em in."

Gunther Smith nodded "Weed is good. Harder stuff is tough to get, that means we can price it up though. Oxy is a little harder to get. Having to go to out of town sources. The Cops got to digging into the pill merchants. That brought in the DEA. Big stink. They are all nervous. It will blow over. The Chinks are flooding the market with fentanyl anymore."

Brad grunted "So we are OK for now."

Vito shrugged "Recruiting is down, everything is down really, but we are holding out. I think it will improve. Only problem is it can only improve so much as we can't get into Swordsman's territory at all. It's a long term problem."

Brad nodded "Bitch will relax, then I'll have her."

Storm Tiger spoke up "Fights might help recruiting. Guys like those."

Brad nodded "Yeah. We'll set up a few nights. Give it all a week and relook it.

"What about the guys going into the DWU?"

Vito shrugged "Same as always. They take one look and know who the simpatico's are, they don't get hired. Still got the ones in the city and county government."

Brad nodded "Tell them to come by the bar, I'll by them a round. Let's see what they are hearing."

Swordsman?

Emily thought for a moment after the meeting "So Swordsman is through being proactive and is reactive. Defending her new turf and building an industrial base.

"This seems to be employing everyone in her territory who didnt already have a job. Which seems to be one of her goals.

"Meanwhile she still steps on people who get out of line.

"Where is the money coming from?"

The G5 smiled "Coil's accounts for now, and the employment is being run by his HR. She is setting up tent cities in the areas her clones cleared doing that plague of locust thing. Meanwhile the construction company is already looking at all those apartment Buildings from the boardwalk east and north she picked up with the various organizations."

The G2 nodded "They brought in Kayden Anders. She did that apartment building everyone is staying in."

Emily nodded "And Obviously the Mayor approves. He visited with his family."

Deputy Director Renick cleared his throat. "The Alcott's have enquired about the wards. Just a request for information about the program."

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose "This goddamn town. OK, do your best with selling them the program."

Miss Militia saw her chance "What about getting the Wards to meet Swordsman? She doesn't disturb any of the patrols."

Emily thought about it for a moment "Well, she did go after a Ward." She held a hand up as mouths opened "Yes I know, did our jobs a bit, could have killed her multiple times and didn't. Still early days though. The optics of that are above my echelon, especially with the matter still headed to the courts, even if we are fairly certain of the outcome. The prosecutors insist its a slam dunk. The Chief Director is still applying pressure though and even I have to admit Shadow Stalker was effective.

"I certainly wish our oversight hadn't broken down, that is still being evaluated and controls put in place.

"The Youth Guard have yet to weigh in beyond their normal moaning. Their hands aren't exactly clean either.

"We are both going to get to explain to a judge what went wrong and what corrective actions we are taking no matter what happens with Shadow Stalker. Whatever it is isn't going to happen here.

"If I get my way she is going to prison. If the Chief Director gets her way, she is going to a containment zone where her powers will be useful. So, a different type of prison. Nobody is coming out of this debacle clean. We just need to limit the damage. I don't necessarily see an outside party looking at our methods as a problem. Depending on the outside source.

"Meanwhile we will have the IG in here quite a bit I suspect.

"All of this on top of policies and procedures being rewritten at the national level because of how Coil infiltrated the PRT network."

The G3 shook her head "Oh joy, another MRI. How safe are those things really?" Emily snorted at her and stood.

Swordsman?

Michelle looked at the cat suit "Its not regulation." Taylor barked a laugh. Anne tapped her foot. Michelle sighed "You ae going to insist aren't you."

Taylor nodded like a bobble head then held her head "Ouch. Yes. And oh by the way, regulation doesn't cover underwear and no part of this will show beneath your uniform."

Mary started stripping after looking at her suit "Hey if I wear this can I drop the gag bag? I can carry another two hundred rounds for the MG then."

Michelle glared at Taylor "See what you did? Why are you reading PRT regulations anyway. Aren't you supposed to be reading church lady porn or some shit? That English guy wrote that one all the old ladies are raving about."

"Because they haven't been on the internet." Taylor replied "People are weird, especially when they think they are anonymous."

Swordsman?

Alexandria, in her Costa brown mien, looked at the regulation changes. Fucking Coil. This was going to finally push through the MRI's for even appointed personnel. It had been bad enough blackmailing every single President, well a couple, into appointing her Chief Director since the regulation had come out requiring annual MRIs for competitive service employees. There was no way they could risk it becoming an elected position. Just look at the morons in the elected branches now. Plus all cabinet positions were appointed. Serving at the pleasure of the President. Sure, it pleased them greatly not being in prison. Fuck!

Well she would have a while to transition it to Julia and she was both read in and loyal to Cauldron. Not like she hadn't been the body double for years. The only real difficulty would come in if Julia ever triggered. She did have a pollentia after all.

Hey, wait a minute, what were they going to do about PRT employees that could possibly trigger? She scrolled back to the top of the regulation. She could reclama this pile of crap asking for clarification about that and then the unions would hold it up for years. Most appointees came from the competitive service after all. A little focused rabble rousing could tie this up forever. Yes, this could work out after all.

Swordsman?

Dragon needed to plug in. She was down to seventeen percent. Colin was exhausted. "Thank you." She took the power cable from Anne, or one of her clones. Her processor on board the suit froze for a second. The clone shrugged. Dragon shook her head and plugged in the connection and tightened the breakaway connector. Impressive, good clean power. Obviously, she and Colin weren't the only ones with good sensors.

She watched Colin plug his suit in and look at the meal that was placed in front of him on the conference table. Real food, not a ration bar. She smiled, you really couldn't be around Swordsman, Taylor, Anne or Claire and not be eating something. They never stopped. How they kept their data input devices clean was an interesting question.

Armsmaster swallowed "I am curious as to why you rerefine everything? Surely some of it is already good for some purposes?"

Anne answered "Normally it contains other elements we need. It's easier just to reduce everything to nano powder and then separate out the minerals, chemicals, and metals. That gives us better control of the finished product as well. It's exactly what we intend it to be."

Taylor nodded "Iron can be changed so much by inclusions, grain size, crystalized lattice. Not even considering carbon content. And that's just iron. Doing it in an inert gas environment gives even more control, and if we could break the code on gravity control, we will really be able to do some impressive things. I'm reading about it. I have some ideas. Somebody has a lot more. Maybe two somebodies. Then of course Bakuda can just make black holes, so when we want something really compressed." She shrugged.

Collins mouth dropped open. Dragon felt her processor stutter "So you are a trump."

Anne smiled "Not so limited. I administrate, when I want something, I find the information, no matter who has it."

Taylor nodded "The hard part is making it happen in this reality. Some of the shards act like they dont even have to be concerned with physics, any of the sciences. Which is all well and good, if you just want one thing, that then has to be adjusted regularly. By that shard or one like it. One that can understand the thing, and what it is doing, anyway.

"It's baby steps right now. Plus, we dont have the people we need to ramp up to like national scale production. We'll get there though. This is just establishing the base industries really. Nice having all that metal nearby. Another thing I would never have thought was nice but turned out to be a great thing was all that ocean dumping, we have managed several different types of machines that are harvesting stuff from the oceans. Plastics go to the refinery, metals to the mill, chemicals to either place.

"Once we run out of the trash, and spilled oil, the same machines can go after methane hydrate, which there is a lot of. Let me tell you! That should keep us in chemicals, or even just fuel, for years."

Claire nodded "We haven't even gotten to improving the people yet. We are looking at what is possible. Animals as well. The systems aren't very efficient. Then of course, there are individuals involved so they do, frankly, crazy things to their bodies. Free will and all that. There are some ethical considerations." She sighed "Be nice if there weren't. We could fix most of the general stupidity right away. Amy freaked over us fixing people though, so now we have to ask unless it's an emergency.

"Apparently I got away with doing Director Piggot because she was about a day from a complete system failure. Or I will get away with it?" She shrugged "No one has asked yet but we did document it and the samples the PRT took of her blood and urine will back up our conclusions."

Collin nodded "High troponin levels. I saw that report. Now however she is operating at very high levels." Carolyn looked at him.

Claire nodded "High stress job. I'll have to ask if she will let me tune her up once a year or so. She is good at her job and the candidates to replace her are pretty crappy for the most part. That Tagg guy needs to be looked at."

Colin shrugged "After the Coil incident we are all going to be under the microscope for quite a while. I wouldn't be surprised to see some changes."

Carolyn nodded the suits head "Yes, over the coming months and years."

Taylor sighed "That's what dad said. He thinks it will be quick in 'government time'."

Colin agreed with Danny "Wise man. He has worked with the government quite a bit. It's a large organization, which, by its very nature, is not agile."

Anne smiled "Which gives an agile organization opportunity."

Carolyn laughed "Competition then."

Taylor rubbed her hands together "About that, we see some opportunities in working with Dragon Tech."

Colin asked "Should I leave?"

Carolyn huffed "To late, and you would know most of it anyway, besides we won't be doing anything illegal, just exploiting our agility, right ladies?"

The three women nodded with solemn faces. Colin got very nervous.

Swordsman?

Dennis looked at Dean "You aren't going to be stupid today right? I mean you heard the briefing; we are to be friendly. Besides Missy is going to put you in a invisible box if you screw up her playdate. If we get one."

Carlos nodded "Things seem to be settling as well. The Undersiders are all in Swordsman's custody, technically, and all of their cases are being relooked in light of the Coil mess. That seems to be headed to a bunch of misdemeanors. They'll probably get a bunch of community service and have to be on a team where they can have adult supervision.

"Being as New Wave hangs out with Swordsman a lot I bet that they end up supervising the Swordsmen.

"On top of which giving your girlfriend those switches made her much less volatile. Could her aura thing have been effecting her?"

Dean looked at the other male wards "How am I the bad guy?"

Chris shrugged "You get freaked out by hot chicks?"

"What?" Dean stuttered while the others laughed until Missy showed up out of her room.

"You all stayed clean. Amazing, lets go." Missy turned on her heel and headed to the door. Dennis gave Dean a significant look as they all filed after the tiny shaker nine. When she was like this you were better off doing as you were told. Sophia Hess being caught had put her permanently on edge apparently. Being the only remaining female Ward in Brockton Bay wasn't helping.


	11. Chapter 11

Swordsman? 11

Emily looked at the overnight summaries and had a sinking feeling. She then read the emails and sure enough, that feeling settled in her gut like a lead brick. She constructed an email canceling the morning meeting and sent it out, then she ordered transportation for herself and her detail, she then summoned Miss Militia and Battery. She cleared up the issues surrounding those summonses and made sure everything was tracking on her phone, then stepped to the restroom in her office and got into the field uniform that had her Directors rank newly applied.

She stepped out and looked at the Master Chief head of her detail. A whipcord and steel man who never said much but everything he said was worth listening to. He offered one of those bits of wisdom in the form of a question "You sure?"

"No, but I have to do something." The Master Chief nodded. Emily led from her office. The Master Chief slapped his visor down and moved his people.

Swordsman?

Vicky looked up from her phone "Dean is like on the rag or something, there are some nuggets of reason in amongst the high drama though. I don't get what his problem is with you Taylor. We can probably expect a visit from the Director though.

"She was content to wait for us to come to her, power play, but us unintentionally poaching Vista is not going to pass. Dean thinks she will pull out all the stops."

Taylor shrugged "First, not me, Anne, second, well I don't know either. Third, we didn't do anything Vista went gaga over us. Though that is the strangest gaga ever, all serious and businesslike and the more she got into it then more she questioned us, and then she declared she was joining us. I was surprised as you. Even Lisa didn't see that coming."

Lisa, nodded, panting. She really couldn't talk. Claire had one finger on her and another on the speed control for the treadmill. Amy looked at her and laughed "Claire are you punishing Data Dummy by working her host to death."

Claire shook her head "Not to death."

Michelle shook her head "Did we have anything Lisa was supposed to do today? Plus, the fucking moaning is going to be tedious. Anne just terrorize Data Dummy for a while and Claire let up on Lisa, we don't have to have her up to high levels for a while yet. We have time."

Claire rolled her eyes "This is her routine for today. She is just lazy."

Rachel nodded from her treadmill "Thinks she can think it all away. Always has."

Taylor looked at Lisa who was getting a smug look around the panting "Except for that pesky time Coils Mercs caught her." Lisa pouted.

Michelle held up a hand "Oh boy. OK, the Director is on her way here. I just got a call from the Chief."

Taylor shrugged "Tell her to bring her PT stuff." Michelle glared at her. "What? We got like another forty minutes of gym time. She can get a light workout in." Michelle added an arched eyebrow. "There are only so many hours in the day and these two are for PT. She is the one showing up with no notice. She can talk to us while we finish or she can wait until, uh, three p.m. next Wednesday."

Crystal grinned "This is going to epic."

Carol sighed "Taylor, are you sure that's the path you want to take?"

Taylor nodded "The building has a gym and I can make it secure. They've had days to gather information. Not that we don't love you and your people Michell, and Dad really likes the LT.

"We have things to be getting on with though. The industrial base is nearly together, nearly all automated, and we will be ready to start branching out.

"Dad has recalled just about all of the DWU for our base workforce, which are going to act as trainers and evaluators on everyone else we can hire.

"The tent city is up and the apartment buildings easiest to refurbish are identified, the new hires will be doing that as training. It should hold their attention as they will be building their own housing. Some of them.

Then there is the mill, refinery, bakery, slaughter house, tannery, flour mill, machine shop, electrical shop, vehicle maintenance shop. All of that stuff.

"The ones not suitable for skilled trades will go in the laborer pool and help with inventory control and stripping all those warehouses we bought, transportation, stuff like that.

"If we can't get a response from the railroads soon, we are going to have to set up one, at least one, to connect to the CSX yards in Massachusetts or Connecticut. Those retards shut down the yard here after all that consolidation in the early eighties. They should have switched it over to an ISO container yard.

"We barely get passenger service, which we are now the far northern most yard for. Plus, one freight unit a week. They dump all their crap here though. There are two engine sheds over in the yard full of SD 40-2's and we can rebuild those. Transportation Systems is begging us to do it even."

Lisa, finally released from durance vile, and the treadmill slowed into cool down blinked "That's why you went after Coil, he has been buying up all that right of way."

"No that's a result of me going after Coil because he was frankly, a retard, with a tiny little bullshit power that he leveraged into something and then let it go to his head. Something is wrong with his power too. It should be more than it is. It's going to take Claire and I both to beat it into something really useful. We may have to just take it and make some major adjustments to it as we integrate it." Anne supplied.

Everyone turned and looked at her. She sighed "And the Director is right behind me. Damn Coil, always causing trouble."

Emily couldn't help it she chuckled "Well, we agree on one thing." She looked around "That money was well spent. This place is great."

Anne grinned impishly "Want a cat suit? You can get in a workout as we talk?"

Emily nodded "Good idea, make up some time on the schedule." Anne led her toward the locker room.

Sarah looked at Battery "What is even happening right now?"

Battery shrugged "No idea, I was coming off an overnight. She sent a message. We hopped in two vans and hightailed it over her. She never said a word.

"Somebody put video of the Wards meeting Swordsman, Iaso, Rhea and Panacea on PHO. Aegis filed a patrol report that had one line in it about Vista being offered a spot with the Swordsmen.

"Not sure that is enough to get the Director out of her office, or Ops, but here we are."

Sarah turned to Miss Militia. "Same really, except I was reviewing the summaries getting ready for the meeting. There was an estimate from the Think Tank that the Swordsmen were going to get another female member though."

Carol got a thoughtful look "One they didn't make I assume. We are all scheduled for exams by Panacea and Iaso today and last time that happened with Swordsman around we got Iaso."

One of the Marine women huffed and looked at her watch then blew her whistle. Gym time was at a premium with everyone on the one base. They needed to move things along.

Emily, in the locker room, did a squat and then rose, "And level V, KR 3 and SP3? OK how much for these for all my people?"

The other three looked at Taylor who rolled her eyes "We'll work up a price. As a ROM probably a grand a person a month, but they will have to be in rotation as we clean them and upgrade them as they come back, Like a uniform service."

Emily winced "OK how about you sell us the suits, and the cleaning equipment or process for them and we come back for maintenance and upgrades?"

Taylor shook and nodded her head "It's a ROM, we can work on the numbers. I'll give it to Tattletale, keep her busy. The more stuff we can pile on her plate the less likely she is to get in trouble."

Emily grinned "Idle privates being the devil on you are they?"

Taylor nodded "The others not so much, Rachel has her dogs, Grue only worries about his sister, Regent is happy if he has a console and a game. Oh and a huge freaking TV. That kid is weird. Lisa though, she is always scheming something."

Emily nodded as she followed Swordsman back out of the locker room with Taylor beside her. "Sergeant Rodriguez can help you out, give you a training plan, maybe an onboarding process, get your team stood up. Then we can work on getting the Swordsmen and New Wave on the same page. We need to register you as an affiliate organization."

Taylor chuckled "Keep me busy and I won't poach Vista? Just so you know that is her idea. She has a litany of complaints, I think they are valid, highest rated shaker on the East Coast, most experienced Ward in Brockton Bay, and all swaddled up in PR bubble wrap.

"There have been and are other wards that are not really happy, Gully, Flechete, some others, surprisingly most of them females. Does the Protectorate have a problem?" She asked very directly.

Emily nodded "I would have said not. Now though, obviously this will need to be looked at. One of the problems is the Youth Guard. Who are neither, for the most part, veterans or parahumans. More Soccer mom's on a mission.

"Another admittedly is the PRT. It came from the military, at a time when the military was just becoming cognizant it had a problem with people not male. They had really just gotten over the problems with people who weren't white, and were a bit resting on their laurels over that. Which only took thirty or forty years. We, all the services are working on it. I had my own share of issues with it."

Taylor nodded as she slipped under the bar she had just added several hundred pounds to. "Ageism too. Not saying anything about the Wards and perhaps my own prejudices showing through but she seems the most level headed of them. The most knowledgeable about regulations and procedures too.

"Actually that had me a bit concerned, a martinet they call it?" Taylor frowned.

Emily smiled, and avoided goggling as Taylor benched so much weight the bench under her creaked and popped "I've been called that and worse. Maybe we can do something about all of this, make the positions performance based rather than age dependent. It will be interesting to work through it."

Taylor nodded and spit out a piece of chrome that had popped off the flexing bar. Claire tapped her forearm and the transparent shield covered Taylor's face. Taylor smiled at her "Thanks. Well, while you work on it, maybe talk to Vista. I'm not going to turn down a shaker nine if she leaves the wards though."

Sarah Pelham who had walked up and was listening added "Neither would New Wave Director."

Emily nodded as Taylor finished her set and swapped with Anne. She finished her stretches "Upper body, spot me Sarah? So, not to pry, but Vista wasn't the potential new female Swordsman?"

Taylor, now spotting Anne grinned "It's a secret, but no. She was a bit of a surprise. Things are moving sort of fast. We are trying to slow everything down though."

"And when Kaiser decides he can't outcompete you?" Emily asked.

Anne replied "I always wanted to be a blade covered giant aerokinetic who can make metal and echo locate."

"Fuck, my life." Everyone gaped at Emily for a moment until Taylor broke and giggled, then laughed.

"Yeah, I feel you."

"Who are you? Bill Clinton? Come over here and spot me supergirl, let Sarah get some reps in."

Swordsman?

Battery looked at Mis Militia while holding her car door open in the PRT parking garage. "What just happened?"

"I'm not sure. I have some enquiries in with the think tank. I want to be absolutely sure before I recommend M/S tanking the director." Miss Militia replied.

Battery nodded "Yeah, something, hell everything was totally different about her."

Swordsman?

Legend looked at Emily "I've reviewed the body cam footage and audio tapes. Are you OK?"

Emily sighed "You, Costa Brown, Miss Militia wants me tanked, Battery is so lost she doesn't know what she wants. Sergeant Rodriguez thinks everything is funny, and the Master Chief thinks I'm running a fever. Was I really that bad?"

Legend shrugged "Very effective at your job, not a nice person. I don't think I ever saw you smile, never mind crack jokes."

"Maybe that was Lung. Not sure what it is really but I feel like we can actually keep a handle on this region now. Well one thing it is is Swordsman. She isn't going to tolerate any bullshit from anybody and she can back it up.

"That's without the Panacea twins who are full on Bio Tinkers." Legend arched a brow and Emily snorted "Been healing people for years, no candy canes around her house even at Christmas. No monsters running around eating people. No people being turned into those monsters. I think I can go with demonstrated performance. Plus, she would have to get past Swordsman. Who has Taylor Hebert's moral code and work ethic.

"If we work even diligently and somewhat conscientiously and try to keep the retarded elected and appointed jerkoffs somewhat under control we can probably survive, maybe even thrive.

"Certainly, that's her goal for Brockton Bay. Since it's a modern society and needs all kinds of crap, well the region will be dragged along.

"Once that's done you people at echelons above reality can try to talk her into doing your shit."

Legend laughed "I have to introduce you to my husband; you will get along fabulously."

Emily shrugged "Seven years and some months, and I got a body that works better than it ever did."

Legend nodded "And when the video hits PHO?"

"Ha! Like I care about all the little wankers."

Swordsman?

Dennis looked at his phone and groaned "Just fucking kill me now."

Swordsman?

Battery looked at the frozen Assault and rolled around the bed cackling.

Swordsman?

Dragon watched Colin open the video and then checked all the measurements he was taking. She then shook her head as he did some high order budgetary calculations. She left him to it and checked her areas of responsibility and production lines.

Swordsman?

Mags looked at Geoff "Ready for your shift?"

"Yep, got some more tuning to do. If she hasn't done anything in the last sixteen hours."

Mags shook her head "Nope, all normal. Even more so that usual. Though she has spent a lot of time stomping on people on PHO. Have you seen these suits this new cape is making? We should look into them."

Swordsman?

"California Mister Jack?"

"Just passing through poppet, you'll like Mexico, you know, down in the south there are some people who like to make and sell drugs. Maybe we should give back a bit, take care of a few of those."

Bone Saw wrinkled her nose "The drugs are always polluted with stuff, it takes forever to get those brains right even if I can."

Mannequin made some signs. Bone Saw nodded "A filter. Hmm, let me think about it."

Swordsman?

Vicky looked at all the students looking at her and Amy in the halls "What now?" She squawked as her friends grabbed her and towed her away. Amy chuckled. She closed her locker and found herself looking at Lucy and Amanda. Lucy grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it out.

"Mmm Hmm. Holding out on us, new suit and a new twin. Spill."

"Oh my god, its going to be like this all day isn't it?"

Amanda shrugged "Until you tell us. Once you do we will stomp on the rest of them." Amy snorted. Both geniuses, with tongues as sharp as hers. No one fucked with Lucy and Amanda. Not for long anyway.

Swordsman?

Max looked at the reports and smiled "So that's working out for now."

James nodded "Yes. We should get Cassandra in here this afternoon and talk to her."

Max nodded "Where does she get her intelligence?"

"Are you kidding? Oh, never mind, you have a boy. Well a girl now but she is ten years from being plugged in to both social networks and the world wide web. Until she gets a significant other, then her circle will narrow considerably. Once she has a baby it will narrow further. In Cassandras case juvenile detention only sharpened those skills females seem to innately have. Its only a matter of interpreting what she says correctly right now." James looked at Max.

Max shrugged "I was the significant other? Or trying to be." James arched a brow. "So Hookwolf will be placated."

"For a time, Max. It's still a long-term problem and from the intelligence I can gather ramping up. She fell into a massive windfall with Coil, Thomas Calvert's, assets. Then Lungs on top of that."

Max scowled "All that time I spent laughing at them for buying up all that property for pennies on the dollar. It was all slums or industrial wastelands. Who knew it would be what we needed when free movement was curtailed so severely?

"When the ferry was let fall to disuse it wasn't apparent because most people had cars and could travel to work.

"Plus the whole damn country was making the change to a service economy and shipping all that dirty, dangerous, manufacturing overseas.

"Marquis spent all that time on the busses. I never put together why exactly. Or why our people were willing to follow his rules, the Asians as well.

"Now clones ride the busses and our people hardly dare to get off outside of our territory."

"Which will change Max. Already if they are going to a legitimate job, or shopping, the clones let them. Urbanization has fully set in however. Manufacturing is coming back to the cities. On a small scale for now but it won't be that way forever, workers living within walking distance, or a short ride on reliable public transportation, of the plants will be a thing again."

"How does she know James? She is standing on a water tower imitating some comic book character from the forties!"

"Powers are bullshit?" James replied. Max snorted a laugh.

Swordsman?

Accord looked at the data. The Elite were retrenching, the Teeth moving west might explain that, but it might not. Probably didn't as a matter of fact. The Fallen were even drawing in a bit. The Nine, five really, were headed south. He should shop that intelligence to the PRT, along with the fact that they had broken pattern and were traveling to major population centers along highly traffic routes. Crime, at least violent crime by major parahuman groups, was down. Everyone apparently waiting on the results of the inevitable clash between the Empire 88 and Swordsman. He smiled, everyone acted as if this was a surprise. The news media ran stories on Swordsman continuously like she was the cause, not the benefactor of the falling dominoes.

This Tattletale person needed looking into. He made a moue of distaste, reports on her were not good. Though she was a powerful thinker, not like him, short ranged.

Gratifyingly the plan he sold Coil was gathering pace. Regrettably, for Coil it was without him. Perhaps he should contact Swordsman. He could include the assets gained from the ABB in a modification to the plan, for a small fee and a few concessions. He turned to his word processor.

Citrine stood in the outer office listening to the muted clatter of keys.


	12. Chapter 12

Swordsman 12

Roy Christner looked at the numbers and then up at the people gathered in front of his desk, his inner circle. "Eleven hundred and seven people. One of the biggest employers in the city, and those people are, allegedly, going to all be trainers for the seventeen thousand he has in training for her.

He looked at the industrial affairs advisor. ""Thirty tons a day of steel is small potatoes, her other metals production is on the same level. She will never be US Steel. She won't even compete with the car builders.' Isn't that what you told me?" The man nodded. "You didn't consider that was from her test, prototype, demonstration, or whatever, lines. And that she could, and would, ramp up as soon as she had workers to use the material she is harvesting in products. Every one of those mini mills she adds equals another thirty tons, of something, and really she can make as much money selling the raw as building finished products because the shipping industry, between the gangs, and parahumans, in this country is dead."

The man shrugged "To be fair, this time lock method of hers is unique and new. Well, not new. Grey Boy, and then apparently this Bakuda freak used it at Cornell. You aren't stealing from one of those containers though. Or taking it off the train car once they set off that thing on it. Little more useful than making sick tableaus or freezing people into statues.

"I had thought the rail lines would be more of an obstacle rather than rolling over and throwing their legs in the air. Selling out at rock bottom prices to her like they did, even throwing in extra right of way. To sweeten the deal. The right of way she actually wanted is worth billions more than she paid."

Roy nodded "Yes, bit of surprise, shortsighted of them really. I mean the government could ease up on those regulations any second. People could realize its thousands of dollars cheaper to ship by rail, and better for the environment, any minute." He glared at the man. "So given the property she owns, how many workers will she need at maximum capacity in say five years?"

The alleged expert sighed. "If she doesn't go vertical like Nabisco did in New York? Five hundred thousand across the various industries."

The city planner moaned and face palmed. "In addition to the three hundred fifty K that live and work here already? The schools, double what we have now. Triple. The hospitals, everything. Where the hell are they going to live?"

The head of the zoning board shrugged "Some of those will end up working for her. From what I can see she plans to get as many of those as she can actually. She owns hundreds of blocks zoned multi story residential. Used to be tenements. Even with some basic off the shelf plans we really can't refuse her building. There were some disused schools and hospitals in that. Abandoned then sold as the town grew out and new ones were built."

His political adviser frowned "Are we trying to stop her or help her? Lots of opportunity in helping her. You could be governor, maybe president."

Roy snorted "Being the mayor of this tiny corner of hell is plenty. I'm trying to figure out how to accommodate the city doubling in size, in say six months.

"Swordsman cured the gang problem. Don't even start about the Empire, she will eat their brains as soon as they make a move.

"The Teeth upped stakes and ran from Boston. Into the Elite on the West Coast apparently. Or that's what the thought is. Got a college friend in Boston, he keeps an eye on them.

"The girl ate Lungs brain. Lungs. She is however many parahumans she wants to be, the largest parahuman organization in the world anytime she feels like it. And they aren't middle of the road powers. She is a high rated cape at whatever she decides to let people see.

"Now it comes out our own little jewel, Panacea, is an S class Cape all by herself. And is becoming Taylor Hebert's friend. Her doppelganger, Iaso, is already Swordsman's companion."

Miss Political adviser frowned "You need to work on that language boss. That could be construed as hostile to the community."

Roy looked at them all and spread his arms in a 'see, my point' kind of gesture. "OK, we are going to figure this out."

The Mayors legal counsel shrugged "Maybe bring her in once we have a plan somewhat together. Get her buy in. Better than fighting her in the courts for a hundred years while she uses the zoning and laws that already exist against us. "

"Finally, somebody gets it. Plan unrestricted people. She can apparently do anything and every property improved adds to the tax base."

The economic advisor shook his head "How does this even happen."

Roy shrugged "Powers are bullshit."

Swordsman?

Danny watched from the window of his office as the 'plague of Swordsmen' stripped another block. Down to just a hole in the ground, all the way to bedrock.

The useful things, including brick or cobblestones that were still sound and useful, or which could be made useful in some type of economical way, were taken away and sorted. Stored away on other blocks already stripped, used to build or repair warehouses or industrial facilities, hell even to refill the holes already made, like a reclaimed strip mine, if it had no other use.

While this was going on the drainage, sewers, underground tunnels for power, steam, and water were all laid in as the hole was filled. All of this under where the streets and alleys had been and could be put back. At the surface these were clearly marked out. Mostly paved with stone as they had been when they were built. On top of gravel recovered as everything in the earth all the way to good bed rock was screened.

Danny shook his head, one of the first pieces of equipment Taylor had repaired and put to work was a pile driver. She then drove an entire yard of sheet steel piling to bed rock along the waterfront and behind that she started to work. Leaving about a hundred feet of earth to support the coffer dam she had built.

Metals, glass, plastic, paper, wood, all feeding the mills, refinery, glass furnace or chemical works. If it wasn't useful for that it went to long lines of piles twelve feet high and the same wide, mixed with other matter for composting. A fragrant operation, thankfully on the rocky shore north of the rail yard on a flat section last used by the Navy as a depot in the forties. Made of pine, then not well maintained, most of those depot buildings had ended up in the compost heaps. Those buildings had already been salvaged but the pavement left. It served as the pad for the piles to be built and turned on.

One of the problems with Taylor had been solved, well figured out anyway. The more clones active the more she ate. Unless the clones did. So now their were trucks running food and water to the work sites from the huge kitchen under the Union hall. It wasn't fine dining but it got the job done. Plus it let the Union cooks train more cooks. Chefs?

Like all the projects, heavy equipment operators, masons, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters, dry wall people. If there was a trade Swordsman learned it and hired people to do it at the same time.

Granted, most of the trades were being learned and done in the multi use buildings she was putting up toward downtown. They were pretty nice looking, pre war architecture, all modern materials and code compliance. The workers building them were impressed.

Since most of the material was acquired locally, and the labor building them was either Swordsmen or trainees the cost was low, and the rents would be low too. Lower than downtown for a nicer, newer apartment, a bigger apartment, in most cases. In a building with a grocery on the ground floor and a department store on the second floor. Clinic on the third. Common space on the roof. Parking below street level and cost extra. A building that covered the whole block.

Danny chuckled. You and five thousand of your closest friends. 'At maximum capacity' as Anne had told him with her serious expression. Good on them. He couldn't do it. She had a plan for that two though. All the single family residential she was buying up and the plans for houses built out of prefab units. The prefab unit factory going right there. He looked at the block under construction two streets away.

It was actually pretty fun playing with the computer program online that let you design your own house. You put in the lot size and it gave you suggestions. That complied with code. If you knew where the lot was it would comply with all codes. And hadn't that been a shocker when a whole lot of people ended up with houses on stilts. Easy place to put a garage. Two and three story houses if you programmed all the room you had now including your basement.

Taylor had been so funny, sitting with her tongue poking out a bit working away until she figured out how to encapsulate peoples existing house and jack it up onto stilts. Which was surprisingly cheap Danny thought. Anywhere from thirty to a hundred grand, depending on size and how high it had to go in tis current location. Paid for itself over the life of a mortgage with savings on flood insurance really. She had turned that into a selling point when he mentioned it. So far only one crew of house jackers, but that was twenty folks in good honest work.

He sighed, so it was all going good. Man the backlash was going to be a doozy.

Swordsman?

"What?" Taylor was flabbergasted. Who the hell was this pinhead with the fucking bow tie anyway?

"You have to be in school Miss Hebert."

"I'm sorry, what was your name and who do you work for again?"

"J. C. Smedley, and I'm the truant officer for Brockton Bay Miss Hebert."

"This is a joke right? Lisa put you up to this didn't she? Where's the camera." Taylor looked around.

"Ah, Miss Wilbourne. There are some irregularities with her alleged GED. I will need to speak with her. You don't happen to know Miss Lindt do you? Or Mister Jean Paul Vasil, also known as 'Alec'?"

Taylor glared at the man. Then she smirked "I could introduce you to Rachel."

"Oh good. Now, my friend R. J." He actually said period, as he had with his own name "In the Department of Labor wants to speak to your Employer, Miss Swordsman. As you are under sixteen you can only work three hours a day on a school day and eight hours on a non school day. A maximum of twenty three hours a week." He smiled.

Michelle shook her head and got on the radio.

Swordsman?

Emily looked at the chief counsel of the PRT Brockton Bay "What I hear you saying is J period C period Smedley is exactly correct and in fact is backed up by federal child labor laws." The Chief council winced but nodded. Emily hummed "And this applies to those trafficked people under eighteen working in the whore houses too I suppose."

The Chief council winced "Uh, actually, yes. However, as those locations are not secured, usually the child labor and truancy officers don't go to those establishments. Apparently they felt secure enough to pay Swordsman, or rather Miss Hebert a visit.

"Actually as the departments of labor, and Education depend on these local jurisdictions, the federal government is providing them federal police powers de facto."

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose "So when Hellhound feeds this jerkoff to her dogs it is going to be a problem." The lead council blinked. "Find a solution. Do it now.

"Wait, how does he know these parahumans identity?"

"Federal Law enforcement ma'am."

The people in the lobby of the PRT froze at the screams of rage emanating from the elevator shafts. Maybe from the floor, walls, and ceiling, vibrating like they were. Something in their little animal brains bringing up instincts from the time of saber toothed cats, cave bears, and dire wolves in the time when fire was an enemy, not a tool.

Swordsman?

Rebecca read the email from Brockton Bay marked urgent. She blinked and read it again. Becca sat back and rubbed at her face. "How in the world? Just...what? What the hell?" She gathered herself and turned her powers, or rather her thinker power on the email and her computer. Blazing through research material and the United States Code. Maybe a little of her mover too. Which was a shame, it was a new keyboard and mouse when she started. Tinker keyboard and mouse.

Swordsman?

Amy walked in and drifted to a halt at the surfeit of blond hair and vulpine grins. She looked around for a moment then went to find Taylor. She found her in her bedroom with a cold mask across her face. She strode to her and put a hand on her forearm "Holy shit. Taylor what did you do?" She got a groan in response.

Michelle sighed "It wasn't her actually. Well part of it was. We had a visit from the truant officer. It lit off sort of a firestorm. Then there were bunches of Tattatales running around using bunches of computers hooked to bunches of websites. Taylor had to have a lie down. Either that or kill the truant officer. I voted for killing.

"Tay wouldn't though. Guy must have some sort of weird master power that only works on underage heroic neutral parahumans.. Console wouldn't let me foam him either though. Whole thing got kicked upstairs, who apparently had a meltdown and kicked it farther upstairs, where it is currently melting the Chief Directors brain from what the spec four mafia is reporting.

"Oh, and the Youth Guards', who are apparently in some kind of parochial internecine death match with the Education and Labor departments."

"What the actual fuck, I was only gone a few hours." Amy sat on Taylors bed.

Vicky walked in with a puzzled look. Looked at Amy and Taylor and nodded "Swordsman got hot for blonds, and I wasn't around, so she made a bunch of Lisa's to, uh well?"

Amy shook her head, closed her eyes and lay back beside Taylor who wrapped an arm around her "Make the world go away."

Michelle snorted "Yeah, that's what a lot of people are saying. Come on Vicky, I can explain part of it. We can get a Lisa off the internet to explain the rest. Give Tay some time to recover. Its been a tough day."

Swordsman?

Danny looked around the dinner table "Whelp. Guess we should put the house up for sale. Pretty sure all this blond wont actually fit in it. Never mind the plethora of brunettes we have around."

Taylor glared "Very funny. And no. We don't need the money and its Moms house. We're going to put if on pilings and mine out under it anyway. Well it and everyone except Jorgensen, until the mean old bastards dies."

Danny laughed "Usually Swedes are kind of jolly, amicable people, not so much old Tomas. Always been a bit of a bastard. Was old when I was a kid too. I think he's immortal. Merchant marine. Dad respected him. Didnt like him but did respect him. His wife and your grandmother were great friends. Mom never saw what Edith saw in him."

Lisa actual goggled at the pair of them "So just, well we can't put them up at the house, they can sleep in the barn? That's it? What the hell? There are twenty two of me running around and I'm eating like Taylor!"

Amy nodded "Ayup. Have to teach the Lisa's to eat, so money isn't eating for twenty one. Plus one of me wont have to be constantly rotating between them adjusting them and can go to Boston General or somewhere."

Lisa arched a brow "Ayup? Really? What the actual fuck?" The others couldn't hold it anymore and broke up laughing. Then the girls girl piled the pouting Lisa. Well the actual girls. The clones watched and smiled. Especially when even Rachel got in the girl pile.

Carol arched a brow at Danny "And we really aren't worried?"

Danny shrugged "Taylor can probably do her Doctoral thesis in just about any subject you name. Lisa actually sat the GED. She can easily sit it again. As well as take the GRE and write her Masters thesis in a few less subjects than Taylor. Amy is already a licensed healer and is still in school. If the labor guys get snippy, George and his guys will be happy to keep them in court for about a thousand years, long enough it wont matter. Worse case we find some way to distinguish the clones and they can work the twenty three hours a week, each. Bit of a tempest in a teapot. Gubmint efficiency. Nothing new.

"The part I am struggling with is these obscure agencies, with police powers, knowing parahuman identities. Seems a bit of a leaky boat to me."

Sarah nodded "And what sent the PRT into a tailspin. Now its all authorized users, and, stay in your lane! Big fight at the Secretarial level apparently."

Carol looked at the girl pile on the sofa and then around the room "Isn't this a little much Tattletale though?

"Where do the clones go when Taylor dismisses them?"

Danny chuckled "She doesn't, hence the eating until they get trained to eat. Taylor has slowed down now that all the Annes are trained." The others looked at him. He shrugged "She likes having sisters? And she says they have the right to life like anyone else." The others blinked.


	13. Chapter 13

Swordsman? 13

Emily rubbed at her eyes. It was seven fucking a.m. "So, what I hear you all saying is that she is in the network, she runs the fucking network. All the powers are hers. She is in fact a Borg Queen, the Borg Queen."

She turned her head to look at Legend "Meanwhile you all think she is on the side of the angels. Though the left side apparently as she is perfectly willing to kill if it advances Taylor Herbert's plans. Or secures her safety.

"Oh, and she is cranking Taylor Hebert up into being the physical manifestation of her. Made in her image.

"OK, at what point does the power disappear into the TX that she is building for herself to occupy?"

Commander Cobb, day strike commander, shrugged "Why should it, she, whatever. Like my Master Chief says 'if you got it flaunt it' and she has it all, six two, built like a brick shithouse, pardon the vernacular, so smart she is pushing CPU's on damn fast laptops into early silicon graves, and exhausting at least six analyst every shift keeping up with her, a face that would make Helen of Troy weep. Green eyes, you don't see that often.

"Beats the crap out of anyone who is stupid enough to try her, in whatever numbers they care to try. If she uh, occupies her body like a normal power, it might limit her.

"Last but not least it would take away the mystery and point us squarely at Taylor Hebert. There are still some charges out there. While easily defended as defense of self and others she would have to spend resources defending herself. Sound tactical and strategic planning." He shrugged.

Miss Militia scowled. How she communicated it was a mystery, you really couldn't see her actual face below that bandana veil of hers. "So we just let her run around and spam capes everywhere? An additional Panacea or five is a good deal, twenty two Tattletales is not." She got some dark chuckles.

Dragon nodded in her video "Though when they get serious it can be impressive. Tattletale is really good at ferreting out information. Taylor is the planner in the group though. They all feed her and she in turn keeps the whole thing on track somehow.

"Claire apparently takes instructions over the shard internal network and somehow Amy Dallon is helping? In the network as well. She and Taylor are only separated when Amy is at school."

Emily nodded "Which brings up another point. Amy Dallon could be used as leverage against Taylor Hebert and therefore Swordsman."

The Directorate Master Chief shrugged "Only by someone who doesn't have a biology. I think we have to assume she is a bio tinker as well. For some reason she has never shown the ability. She has been known to turn people off when they were acting out in emergency rooms though."

Armsmaster nodded "At Endbringer events as well, Parahumans that are not in control of themselves do not act out in the medical areas."

The third shift Ops officer shrugged "Amy Dallon is getting the 'be all she can be' tune up as well."

Emily snorted "And apparently I stun at least two capes into tonic immobility whenever I walk by them. It seems to be something Swordsman added. I mean they didn't have to do that. They could have just fixed my kidneys, legs, and heart."

She suddenly had a thought "Where is Squealer?"

Dragon supplied "At a medical facility, Not sure where but they have given me access to the monitors on her. She is being minimally supported right now and the Iaso with her thinks she will wake up soon. Tattletale has designed a program to engage her and keep her distracted from her mental addiction. The physical addiction has been broken and her body healed." Emily arched a brow. Dragon shrugged "They actually sent the program to the PRT mental health advisors. They were impressed." Emily drummed her fingers. Dragon frowned and put up window with a video in it. "Yes she received the makeover." Dragon glared at Colin running his scanners over the obviously naked woman with her breast and hips covered by the folded sheets lying on the table. "From the scale the table is on she got the full makeover. Denser muscles and bones included. The IV is a high percentage glucose solution supplemented with vitamins and minerals."

Armsmaster asked "Why the UV light in addition to the supplements?"

Emily interrupted "Lets save the technical discussion for another time. Unless it's significant?" Armsmaster and Dragon nodded and quieted. Emily continued "Thank you. We are going to slow this down and dive deeper. The situation is stable for now. Let's try to get back to a routine. At least until the Empire loses their mind.

"Legend, Armsmaster, Miss Militia stay please. The rest of you are dismissed." Emily returned the nods and waited. The Master Chief had stayed as well. Emily looked at the other four "So what are we going to do about Vista?"

Legend huffed in frustration "Lose her to the Swordsmen probably. It's the way the system is structured. We can't make her the wards leader, no matter how she test. If we can get the test on line. I don't think she has the patience to wait on us. I know I wouldn't. Flechete and Gully as well. Probably some others."

Armsmaster nodded "We can design modifications to the program and the plan to get them through the system as expeditiously as possible but that will only help those who follow. In Vista's case it will probably happen before she graduates to the protectorate."

Miss Militia agreed and added "Really this Directorate and Protectorate office aren't helping. Our wards patrol more. They also engage more villains than almost all of the others."

Legend nodded "New York has a higher number of incidents across the five boroughs but there are five teams. Sub regions, so it doesn't look as bad. Los Angeles is larger by both population and area but the same holds, there are three directorates Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Anaheim, plus each of those have sub regions. Brockton Bay is odd. A statistical outlier that influences the curve for all other metropolitan areas.

"That's aside from having Lung in it. Or having had Lung in it in the past."

Emily smirked "So, you're saying it's a tough town?"

Legend chuckled darkly "On paper. The reality here on the ground is that this fucking place is a meat grinder in hell. Why people live here I don't know. The tourist flocking here should be fucking locked up and the key thrown away. Maybe sent to a quarantine zone. That they bring their kids is even worse."

Emily snorted a laugh. "Fine. Come on. We can get in a work out. Maybe ask Taylor and Anne if they are going to get anymore powers today. Hell, maybe Tattletale can find us a way around the regulations and the damn Youth Guard. She's a villain, fucking over the government is what she does." Legend gave her a look and shook his head as she got up and moved, with her long legged strides to the couch and grabbed her go bag.

The Master Chief sighed and vocalized for a moment as he followed. He was going to have to get her alone and remind her that regulations were for the guidance of the commander and she could do whatever the fuck she wanted to really. Or whatever her career could stand. And Swordsman would probably hire her for more than she was making now truth be told. Officers, the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

Swordsman?

Taylor stood by the door to the locker room blinking. Amy had kissed her on the way past running out the door to catch up with Vicky to get a ride to school. She looked around the Locker room at the blushing Anne and the grinning Claire. And all the other grinning women. Crystal waggled her eyebrows. Taylor face palmed. A kiss on the cheek and she was going to suffer all day. What had Amy been thinking? "Hey Supergirl! Come spot me!" Taylor blinked at Emily walking past in her cat suit having already peeled out of her clothes. Then she shrugged and followed her. The other women blinked and then went on with what they were doing. Michelle sighed and headed off after her charge. She was going to have to suggest the BUB get moved to the evening. Keep it off of PT time. Maybe after PT? Nah, the night shift would have to be moved then, all the shifts really.

Swordsman?

"It's not making smoke anymore. Steam either. Neither is the refinery." Max looked out his window as the sun rose from its position behind the area Swordsman had taken over.

Victor nodded "Apparently she analyzed the smoke and found things in it she wanted. She has four pretty high rated tinkers in her range, maybe five. She found a way to capture the stuff she could find a use for including heat. Oddly it isn't very noisy either. Between the mill rolling or forging in near vacuum conditions and 'vibration being wasted energy'.

Kreig nodded "So her pilot operations are up and running and she can just add a like unit whenever she needs more production."

Brad pointed "Fishing boats."

Max nodded "Nearly autonomous. Piloted by captains in arm chairs from shore with deck hands using robots to do whatever the hell it is deck hands do.

"The cannery and fish processing operation is being looked at from what our people say."

Victor shook his head "Our people, the butchers and fishmongers."

Brad nodded "The bakers will be next. She bought the Continental operation out. She got the slaughter houses and Tannery when she took out the druggies."

Kaiser snorted "And we don't have anyone there. Just our Bakers, Butchers, Hospitals, everyone, buying from them. What she hasn't automated she has old people supervising or driving robots for. Tell me we have farmers still?"

Victor winced "The few we had."

Brad nodded "We can use her model. Buy up the places near them and I can send my guys out there to work the places under the farmer's supervision. Don't need robots."

Kreig nodded "Our Italian friends run most of the groceries."

Kaiser nodded "And are as loyal to the apparent winner, and where the money is going, as they always were. Retail and service aren't going to help us. We need the manufacturing and production."

Brad waited in the silence that followed that for a moment "We can send Rune to the Swordsmen."

Kreig glared "Or Cricket."

Max contemplated the idea as the two squabbled over who would be losing a female parahuman. It wasn't a bad idea really. Jessica and Nessa were right out though. Purity would do something permanent to them. He couldn't afford to lose his power hitters. Something they were very smug about. And spending a lot of his money over. How many shoes could a twenty something need for god's sake? Oh! That reminded him, he still needed to put out a contract on those purse designers. Fifty thousand dollars for a fucking purse? Seriously?

Swordsman?

Michelle watched Taylor who was eying Lisa from the corner of her eye and grinning like a monkey. The main Lisa. Who was typing so fast you couldn't hear the separate key strokes, merely a sort of buzz. She leaned forward "What are you doing?"

Taylor turned her head to her "Just watching. The Lisa's are having a competition sort of. It started with modifying this plan from this Accord guy and took off. Do thinkers have fugues? I know Tinkers do."

Michelle blinked "Accord?"

"Yeah he had this plan on the internet. Several versions of it. The Lisa's have made it into a program. You plug in local variables and it refines it. We need names for them."

Michelle rolled her eyes "Only if you keep them around? I thought they were temporary?" She held her hands out palm out at the look "OK, so not?"

"They're cute." Taylor pouted.

Mary chuckled "And what does Amy think of you keeping a harem of thinkers."

Taylor blushed "Not a harem." She looked at the arched brows "Not."

Amy walked in "Besides, Amy likes them and thinks they are cute too." She bent over and kissed Taylor on the cheek. The room went silent. The pair looked up into grinning faces everywhere.

Taylor stood up and grabbed Amy's hand towing her away "We have to talk." Alec and Brian winced. The girls looked at them. Then laughed.

Taylor towed Amy all the way to her bedroom and onto her bed. Amy blinked "Uh, little fast."

Taylor nodded "It was, this morning and just now." Amy looked at the bed then at Taylor. Could she really be this obtuse? "I mean, well, I don't think of girls that way, really anyone that way." OK, she could.

Amy smiled slightly "Well, you had that break up, or rather your girlfriend cheated on you, and then left you so I get it. But if you are uncomfortable let me know. We can slow down."

Taylor blinked "Girlfriend?"

Amy had a flash of sympathy for Barnes. A microsecond, easily, and ruthlessly, crushed fuck that bitch, you move you fucking lose. "Taylor, from the things you have told us, you two were inseparable. I'd go so far as to say you loved her."

Taylor opened her mouth, then closed it. She opened it again. Then groaned and flopped down on the bed. She mentally went back to first grade and did a quick review. She tried to cast it as friends. Since she hadn't had any others though, that was difficult.

As for Emma, she had had competitors more than friends, aside from her. Frenemies maybe? She wrapped an arm around Amy as she snuggled into her side.

For her part Amy waited patiently. Finally Taylor announced "Boys. I like looking at boys. Some of them."

Amy nodded "Me too. Some of them are pretty. Alec for example."

Taylor huffed "Brian I thought."

Amy slid on top of Taylor and held herself in a plank position. She grinned at her "I got muscles too. Or, Claire can make me brown?" Taylor spluttered. When Amy let herself down on her, of course, was when the other girls charged in. Amy laughed as Taylor covered both of their heads with the pillow. Amy kissed her on the lips this time, which got the pillow tossed into Glory Girls face hard enough to knock her on her butt. Of course it exploded.

Michelle looked at the feathers drifting out of the room down the hall "What do you know, no shit down. Lung went all out."

Swordsman?

The parents caught up to the girls in the rolling mill. Obviously something was going on. Sarah gave Carol a lifted brow and got a groan.

Danny shook his head. "So, what have you all been up to Taylor?"

Taylor shrugged "Work. Study. Watching the Lisa's duke it out? Well smart girl fight? They are sort of still at it. They got the plan thing done and went after all the money. Integrating that into the plan. Apparently we all have to take a check. Fucking Social Security, man! Like that will even be around when I retire."

Danny looked at her and nodded. The caught himself and laughed. The other adults too. "Welcome to adulating? Well Child Laboring. We apparently can't get around that. Unless you figured out a way to distinguish between yourselves? Wow, I think I gave myself a headache."

Taylor nodded sympathetically, I know right? You should be in here." She tapped herself on the temple. "We think Amy, Claire, or the Amy's can work out something, a scar on the fingerprints if nothing else.

"Of course then, they all have to have social security numbers apparently. Damn Government."

Danny tried to keep a straight face. He really did. He was not successful.

Armsmaster walked up and saved it, or at least saved Danny from being glared at "Your current run is more HY 80 than even low carbon STS."

Taylor took the out and dove in "It's the silicon. We're playing with all the components. Got a couple of runs of HY 130. Some higher than that. Waiting on it to cool so we can check weldability. Already got some interest from the defense department."

Dragon looked at Amy and emoted an arched brow somehow. She chuckled at the eyebrow waggle she got back. Vicky touching her with one finger on the shoulder and making a hissing noise turned it into a laugh. The laugh stopped when Amy looked at her with narrowed eyes "We need to talk."

Danny, Neil and Mark backed up a step. The women, not Amy and Dragon, shook their heads. Men. Terrified little creatures. Amy snot a look at Taylor who was studiously ignoring her, men and Taylor. Amy hooked Dragons arm by holding hers shoulder high and led her off. Anne and Claire joined the pair.

Swordsman?

Jack mashed the accelerator to the floor. He had a feeling they were in the clear for at least an hour and they could make the crossing into Mexico he had picked. It was in the middle of the dessert and mostly unused, which made it dangerous, because it was in the middle of the desert and mostly unused. He sent the prewritten text to Manton. Whose shitty fucking van was lagging, again. Jack sighed, he had told him to get one with a V8. Well he wasn't stopping for him now. His daughter was just going to have to make the crossing happen for him after she scouted for the rest of the Nine.

Chaco looked at the RV. More gringos. Well these would be fun, lost little lambs that they were. He circled down to the dead tree. The Buzzard could wait. Gringos didn't last long.


End file.
